Tales from Oasis Outpost
by Sugoitsu
Summary: Near the Northern Desert, northeast of Treasure Town, lies a ragtag little community at a place called the Oasis Outpost. These are the stories of that outpost and those who inhabit it. A short, interconnected series of mostly-standalone story arcs taking place in the Mystery Dungeon Explorers universe. Reviews appreciated!
1. Desert Disaster

**•**

**Tales from Oasis Outpost**

Chapter 1

≈ Desert Disaster

* * *

><p>Running a trade caravan can get exhausting at times. We had experienced one setback after another before finally getting on our way; one of the Tauros pulling the caravan was missing, a few boxes of merchandise had been misplaced, and after those had been sorted out a wheel broke right off of our wagon. Just how unfortunate can one get?<p>

Once everything was put into place, we rushed straight out of Treasure Town in order to deliver our cargo on time. With how late we departed, we simply couldn't afford to stop, even to rest. After all, Oasis Outpost was quite a ways away.

As we travelled, my companion, a young Sentret by the name of Scout, stood guard at the front of the wagon while I had my face buried in a map at the back, ensuring we were on the correct route. My perusal was interrupted by a small paw tugging at my arm.

"...Hey, Strauss."

I set my map aside for a second to see what she wanted. I found my companion squinting out the caravan's window, pointing ahead with her other paw.

"Kecleon have good night vision, right? Look over there," she said, "Doesn't it look like that cactus over there is wearing a mask?"

"What?" I set my map aside and peered out the side of the caravan. I strained my eyes against the darkness to try and make out whatever it was my partner had seen. However, despite having the 'good night vision' of a Kecleon, I saw no sign of any such masked cactus anywhere in our vicinity.

"What do you mean? I don't see anything of the sort." I turned back to her and folded my arms, "Are you sure you saw something like that? Or are you just imagining things again?"

She seemed put off by that, if only for a moment.

"I guess the long night's just getting to me." She sighed. "I could'a sworn, though…"

I unfurled my map and sighed as I went back to looking it over. "Take a nap then, if you're tired."

"Don't treat me like I'm still a kid, Strauss!" she grumbled. "I'm not tired at all! If anything, you should be the one going to sleep! You're always overworking yourself, and- and you… aahh…"

Whatever it was she was trying to say was interrupted by the onset of a loud yawn that would've made a Slowpoke jealous. Blushing, Scout pulled her bushy tail in front of her face in an attempt to hide her embarrassment from me.

"Take a nap," I insisted, trying my hardest to hold back a chuckle. "I'll wake you once we arrive, alright?"

"But…"

I shook my head and smiled, "Scout. Even adults need their sleep when they're feeling tuckered out. I promise you, I'll keep an eye out for any sneaky cacti while you rest. Just worry about catching some shut-eye for now, okay?"

She mulled over my words for a moment, before letting go of her tail. Puffing out her cheeks, she bounded over to my side of the caravan with a sudden short burst of energy and scooted herself up against my side.

"Fine," she said, "but you'll have to be my pillow, Strauss!"

Before I could even open my mouth to object, she pressed her fuzzy little cheek against my arm and shut her eyes. Within seconds, I could hear her faint, raspy snore as she fell asleep. I chuckled quietly and shook my head.

After my partner had drifted off to sleep, I found myself sitting in near silence. The dull puff of the Tauros' hooves kicking up sand and the rumbling wheels of the caravan were all that kept me company as I rode through the night.

Ridiculous as Scout's claims of a strange, masked cactus may have been, I couldn't help but take another glance out the window. No cacti, of course. At least, no masked ones. I masked my smirk with one claw and shook my head. She may have claimed otherwise, but she certainly had a wild imagination, her mind full of bizzare ideas one could only hear from a child.. I placed my chin atop my palm with a sigh and looked out the window. For a while, all I did was gaze out at the vast, sandy landscape. Endless stretches of desolate desert surrounded us, reaching all the way to the edges of the horizon.

The Northern Desert… what a dull place to be. I'd heard tales that the desert was a dangerous place to visit, especially at night, but - for better or worse - nothing really exciting had happened thus far. Normally I'd have played it safe and went the longer way around Drenched Bluff, but we wouldn't have had a hope of reaching our destination on time otherwise.

The decision to pass through the Northern Desert wasn't an easy one to make, but we had ultimately decided that it would hopefully be worth the risk. Scout volunteered to keep watch for anything suspicious while we traveled, and I trusted that our burly team of Tauros could hold their own in a fight if need be - and so, we considered ourselves fit to travel, even taking into account the possibility of danger.

Every now and then, I glanced back at our map to double-check that we were on the right path; we simply couldn't afford to have another setback with all that had gone wrong before we'd even set out. If I had another mishap now… Neither my brother nor my wallet would ever forgive me.

"Mrrk…"

I was jolted out of my thoughts by a loud snore from my partner. She had rolled away into her own seat. She looked so peaceful, curled up into a little striped ball and clutching her big, fluffy tail tightly. I just couldn't help but want to pet the little ball of fluff.

I made to reach over and pet her, but I was interrupted by a loud bellow from the Tauros leading the wagon, with two more following shortly after. Before I could process what had happened, the entire caravan came to an abrupt and painful halt. The wagon had suddenly toppled onto its side, tossing merchandise and passenger alike all around the splintering interior.

A wooden support beam cracked loudly as it broke, sending a jolt of panic down my spine. Through the chaos, I caught sight of my skin turning a pale shade of yellow as we tumbled about. The entire thing began to groan and creak as it finally stopped rolling. However, our troubles weren't over - we were beginning to dip lower and lower below the surface of the sand.

At this point, my instincts took over. I couldn't let Scout get hurt! Leaving my merchandise where it fell, I scooped Scout up into my arms and dove out the window. Icy cold sand greeted my face as I tumbled out of the sinking caravan, clutching my partner securely against myself.

"What happened?" I shouted at the Tauros as I struggled for footing in the shifting sands."What's going on out here!? Answer me, Tauros!"

No response came. I climbed out of the crater of sand I had fallen into - no small feat, mind, as I still had to carry Scout with me - and hurried forward to investigate. When I got to the front of the line a short while after, a disastrous scene awaited me: All three leading Tauros had fallen unconscious, lying in a huge, tangled mess at the bottom of a massive sand trap.

"Who did this?! Show yourself!" I edged around the sizeable pit, looking around for anyone who may have been responsible. I detected a faint sound from the middle of the pit. Snapping my eyes over to the source, I noticed that a Trapinch had crawled out from underneath the knocked-out Tauros and climbed atop them, sporting a victorious grin.

"What's the meaning of this?!" I demanded. The little bandit spared me no response but a wry grin. Now literally bright red with anger, I swung my arm through the air in the direction of the miscreant and seethed, "Get them out of there, now!" This time, the Trapinch did respond - by firing a chunk of gritty sand right into my face.

"Agh!" I stumbled backward, my eyes burning from the sandy assault. During my panic, the unconscious Scout rolled out of my grasp, tumbling onto the cold sand and tumbling away.

"Scout!"

My partner continued to roll over the dunes like an out of control wheel for several feet, before uncurling herself. She glanced around for a few seconds, her eyes still unfocused and cloudy from sleep, before she turned to me.

"Strauss!" she said, "What's going on? How did I get outside?"

"Now's not the time for questions like that!" I shouted back at her. A feeling of relief washed over me when I saw her answer with a nod. Thank goodness... She didn't seem to be injured.

Despite being worried for my partner's well-being, I had more pressing matters to attend to. I spun around in the sand, glaring back at the cackling Trapinch in the sand pit. The Trapinch saw my furious gaze, and gave me another raspy, coarse-sounding cackle before calling out to someone out of our sight.

"You're clear, Boss!"

"Boss?!" Another bandit?! I whipped around, glancing toward where the Trapinch was looking, but I found nothing but the inky blackness of night. Right as I was about to turn back around, however, a shadowy blur raced past and nearly knocked me off my feet.

"S-Strauss!" Scout had leapt to her feet and was pointing behind me. "It's him! It's the masked cactus!"

My new assailant came into full view as I pivoted on my heel to face him. Illuminated by the bright desert moon, looming over me like an imposing beast, was that suspicious character my partner had spotted. A masked cactus… no, it was no mere cactus! It was a Pokémon; a Cacturne! A Cacturne clad in a bandana for some odd reason, as if he thought it would somehow conceal his identity.

"W-What do you want out of me?" I asked, trying as best I could not to let him hear my voice shake. However, my skin betrayed my intentions. Pale, ashen gray - I was blanched with fear.

"Kyeheheh… I was thinkin' you'd be smarter than that, bein' a merchant and all!" he growled, showing an icy-cold demeanor. Every syllable he spoke was laced with a disgusting layer of snideness, as if he was taunting me with every word. "Seems to me I had it all wrong! Now… unless you and your little Sentret buddy are thinking of stopping us - Bonnie and Clyde, the Desert Bandits! - We'll be helpin' ourselves to your cargo there!"

The Cacturne doffed his hat in my direction, a malicious glint in his eyes. Then, before so much as giving me the chance to respond, he made a beeline for the toppled caravan.

"Wait, stop-!" My desperate shouts reached nobody. Soon, right before my very eyes, the audacious criminal began to hurl crate after crate of my precious cargo out of the caravan's crumbling remains. As each crate landed, it was sucked under a newly-formed vortex of sand, no doubt to be carried off by his Trapinch accomplice.

What was I to do? As a merchant by trade, it was rare that I would find myself in a situation like this. Combat training? In the past, it seemed foolish to me to waste my time with such frivolities. To be a merchant, all one needs is a silver tongue and a penchant for business! After wandering off the beaten path and winding up in this situation, though, I begun to consider that perhaps I'd made the wrong choice in abstaining from training myself a bit.

I had no more time to think about that, though. If I continued to lay there, stunned like a dozy Stunfisk, those dastardly thieves would have made away with all of my precious merchandise! I glanced over at Scout. She seemed to be sharing in my dilemma, looking on at the fiasco with her mouth agape.

Unfortunately, it seemed my only options were to risk a fight or to stand idly by and let this crook ruin my livelihood. Gritting my teeth, I caught Scout's attention with an inconspicuous signal, uncurling my tail and whipping it at the sand. To my relief, she noticed, and sent an attentive nod back to me. With no time to dawdle, I motioned at the Cacturne, keeping my arm by my side to avoid drawing his attention. If there was any hope for success, then it was only if we attacked together!

At once, the two of us charged at the bandit while he was occupied tossing our cargo to his accomplice. I lashed out with a furious barrage of claw swipes, while Scout launched herself toward him in a full - body tackle, using her springy tail to propel herself into the air.

The Cacturne reacted to our combined assault with startling speed. He carelessly tossed away the crate he was holding, and ducked down low to the ground in a sort of boxer's stance. Scout flew right past him as he lowered himself and crash - landed inside our wrecked caravan. I, on the other hand, was caught off-guard and quite severely punished for it. Before my claws could even reach his masked face, he sprung back up with insane agility and sent me sprawling back onto the cold sand with a single punch.

"Kyehehehe…" the Cacturne stomped down on my chest and leaned over me, giving me a good look at his masked face. "So close… not! Did'ja really think a weakling like you could stop the likes of Clyde, Desert Bandit? Don't make me laugh! Kyeheheh!"

"You… why are you doing this?"

The bandit tilted his head, letting a few grains of sand slip off his face. "Why? You're seriously asking me that, why am I doing this? Kyeheheh… that's funny." He got off my chest and hollered over at his Trapinch partner. "'Ey, Bonnie! Gimme a reason as to why we're robbing these jokers!"

"Money!"

"...Really? That's all you can come up with?" the Cacturne clamped his hand over his face and shook his head. He glanced at me and shrugged, "What can I say? My partner ain't the brightest Lanturn in the sea."

"You… you won't get away with this…!" I growled in a vain attempt to threaten him.

"You ain't no shinin'' Litwick yerself, merchant," he tapped my nose with his hands, prodding me with his spiny thorns. "I heard Kecleon have great night vision, but you look like you're totally blind! We've already won! Your stuff? It ain't yours anymore! Kyeheh! Kyehahahahah!" he reared his head back and cackled into the night.

"Listen, how's about I cut you a deal, merchant?" he said. "The desert's deadly cold at night, and I'm a pretty generous Pokémon! So how 'bout this? You give us your stuff... and that Sentret too. And I might think about leaving some provisions behind for you! Kyeheheh!"

"T-That Sentret? I… I most certainly refuse!" Scout… as if I would ever let these dastards have my Scout! She was my responsibility; she's my charge! She's mine; I simply couldn't let them take her! Howling out of rage, I pulled myself to my feet and shot a determined glare at our attacker. Adrenaline coursed through my body, turning my skin a radiant gold. Swallowing the dull, throbbing pain from the blow that Cacturne dealt, I charged past the bandit and leapt inside the caravan.

Before the Cacturne could stop me, I scanned around the inside of my destroyed caravan. To my relief, my partner was only knocked out cold against a piece of lumber. Scooping her up in my arms, I pulled Scout out of the wreckage and bounded back out onto the desert sands. Hiding her unconscious form behind a dune, I peeked back over at the bandits. The Cacturne and the Trapinch had both ignored my daring rescue, and were rushing off into the distance with our cargo in tow.

"Well, you can't win'em all, eh?" I heard the Cacturne shout. "You can keep your brat, Kecleon! We'll be taking the rest! Kyehehahahah!"

I could feel my skin burning a furious red as I watched them race off, that manic cackle fading into the distance. I wanted to attack them, to charge toward them and hope for a better outcome. But… my common sense told me that it was a foolish idea. I had already escaped with my life, as well as Scout's. To pursue them any more would be reckless, endangering not just my well - being, but hers as well.

In the end, I had no choice but to let them go. My burning red skin faded to a dull, blue hue as I felt my helplessness overcome me. I glanced over at my partner. The Sentret's eyes were closed, her little chest heaving as she rested her body. A part of me was glad that Scout was still asleep.

I'd wager she would have cried if she had seen the look on my face.


	2. Welcome to Oasis Outpost

**•**

**Tales from Oasis Outpost**

Chapter 2

≈ Welcome to Oasis Outpost

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><p>Having been cut off en route to Oasis Outpost, we had no choice but to walk the rest of the way. The long walk did nothing to improve the party's morale; at best, it was simply miserable. I opted to lead the way, feeling entirely responsible for last night's disaster. No one objected, so it ended up that I lead the way across the desert, hauling a napping Scout on my back. Our phalanx of Tauros walked alongside us in perfect formation, surrounding Scout and I like a protective wall of brawn while keeping their eyes wide open for any more potential attackers. Bitterly, I entertained the possibility of another bandit attack at this stage in our journey. What did we have left for anybody to steal?<p>

Sticks, planks? What few shreds of our pride remained, perhaps?

That said, though… It couldn't hurt. I'd had quite enough of being mugged for one lifetime. On top of that, to place Scout in any more danger than I had already would have been simply irresponsible. All things considered, I really couldn't complain about the Tauros escorting us as guards.

Either way, having left the now-empty caravan where it lay ransacked, our only hope to rescue our stolen goods was to seek help at the Outpost. It seemed like a slim chance, but I held out hope that something could be done. An old regular of mine, even a friend perhaps, lived at the Outpost. And I knew that he would no doubt lend us a helping hand.

Several hours of desert trekking later, the bright sun had finally begun to peek out from behind the sandy dunes. A glorious wave of shimmering gold sand stretched for leagues around us, illuminating the once - cold desert with a brilliant layer of warm sunshine. Holding my claw against my chest, I took a deep breath and let the smiling sun heat up my cold, aching body.

As I breathed in the crisp, morning air, I spotted something interesting in the distance. Something that sent jolts of excitement rushing through my body.

"Scout…" I muttered, prodding at the fluffy lump lying on my back. "Scout, wake up!"

"Mmrgh? Wha…?" My dozy partner yawned and stretched out her arms. "What is it, Strauss?"

"Take a look!" I said, my earlier dreary mood giving way to excitement. I jabbed my claw over at the huge sand hill looming in the distance. "We're nearly there, see?"

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and laid her chin on top of my shoulder, staring at my outstretched arm with half-open eyes. Not even a single second had passed before she sneezed and laid her face back down on my shoulder.

"I don't see a thing, Strauss…" she grumbled into my scales, nudging the back of my head with her tail. "Why'd you wake me up? I was having this super nice dream…"

"It's right there, Scout," I said back. "You'll see it once we crest this hill. So keep your eyes open, alright?"

While she still looked a little out of it, the little Sentret nodded and put on a small smile. I turned around and waved my arm at the Tauros, signalling to them that we're almost home. The trio of Tauros still had their usual tough, no-nonsense expressions emblazoned on their faces, but I could see the a flash of relief in their eyes as I explained our situation to them. I didn't blame them for wanting a little rest, of course. The three of them had taken the brunt of that Trapinch's assault, as well as having to drag our caravan for almost two days straight. I conceded that they must have been far more exhausted than Scout and I ever were.

Certainly, I could afford to buy a round of drinks for them when we arrive_.._

The towering gate of the Oasis Outpost loomed over my crew and I as we crested the top of that sand dune. Those two pillars of pale, sun-bleached wood seemed to stretch far into the sky, casting an immense shadow over us as we strolled up to it. Despite the "gates" to the outpost being nothing more than the rugged, coarse trunks of two large trees, to me, they looked like the gates to paradise.

I lifted Scout higher up on my back for a better look of the place as the five of us made our way down the main road of the outpost. It was her first time here, after all; I figured she would enjoy having a better look around the place as we strolled down the dusty street.

"Strauss, look!" Scout said, pointing her little paw ahead of us.. "See that? There's a big, _big_ lake over there!"

Indeed, the "big, _big_ lake" at the center of Oasis Outpost - the town's obvious namesake - was just ahead of us. The oasis forms the lifeline which supports the Pokémon that live, work and visit the little settlement. Formerly just a huge reservoir of water; it was now known as the 'Great Oasis,' a wonderful, refreshing sight for sore eyes for any Pokémon who found themselves trapped or lost in the harsh environment of the Northern Desert.

The Oasis Outpost was founded by a small, humble band of go-getter settlers; of all the places they could've chosen, this group of daredevils opted to settle down at the edge of the desert, right at the cusp of where the sand ends and the badlands begins. Smack dab between the dry and unforgiving Northern Desert and the tense and dangerous Amp Plains now lies this little Outpost, trying its hardest to survive on account of its lack of population and profitable business. To say that this place was stuck between a rock and a hard place would be underselling things by a fair margin.

"That's right, Scout." I said, smiling. "That's the Great Oasis. Isn't it beautiful?"

Of course, while this place isn't the most prosperous, there is still much good to say about it. In particular, considering the circumstances of its foundation, it's quite a beautiful location. Wonders such as this natural spring of fresh, clear water out in the desert are hard to come by. I, as a business-minded Pokémon myself, initially couldn't fathom the profitability of founding an outpost here. However, were I a touch more romantically-minded, I might consider the sight of this beautiful lake a valuable treasure all its own.

"Yeah, it's so pretty! Look, it's all sparkly and shiny when the sun hits it like this!" Giggling, my young partner leapt off my back and ran ahead to the lake's edge. She dipped her paws into the crystal-clear water and splashed it over her face, sighing in refreshment before taking a deep breath and dipping her entire head below the surface.

"Scout-!" I scolded, as she resurfaced with her fur all wet and matted. She flashed me an innocent smile and ran back, dripping water all over the place. I could hear the Tauros behind us chuckle and titter as Scout stopped in front of me, looking soaked but happy.

I shook my head and gave her a bemused chuckle. "You're not getting up on my back now that you're all soaked like that, you know." I returned her smile and began to clean up the water on her face. The way she looked just then… She seemed to have forgotten yesterday's pandemonium entirely. I envied her sense of willpower, if only just a bit. After clearing the remaining few droplets of water off her cheeks, I patted her on the back.

"There you go," I said. "Now come along, we haven't got much time to waste."

The building we sought was near the edge of town, completely opposite where we were at the moment, though, and so we were granted the opportunity of a full tour of the tiny settlement. As we walked, Scout continually glanced around the place, excitement and interest glittering in her tiny eyes.

"Strauss!" she called out. "What's that building over there? The one that looks like a buncha mud!"

"That's Timburr's Workshop," I said to Scout, glancing towards a mud-brick building to our right as we passed it. "He and his masonry team are responsible for most of what few buildings you see around here."

"Wow…!"

As any successful merchant would tend to do, I had made myself known to many of my customers back in Treasure Town; as it would happen, I had in fact known Timburr for quite some time before Oasis Outpost had even come into being. He, together with several other, admittedly stir-crazy travellers, were among the brave (or foolish) few who were willing to put forth the drive toward founding a whole new settlement here in the badlands. He, too, could have perhaps given us a hand in recovering our shipment, but our current target had further connections, and could access them more immediately.

I've once heard Timburr ramble on sometimes about founding a justice system just for the Outpost and surrounding area. Perhaps its own Explorer's Guild of sorts, to train up a force of brave youths to patrol the place like Machoke's back at Treasure. For now, though, it was all just a load wishful thinking floating about in the dry, dusty air. As it stood right now, there were hardly enough residents to even call this pile of mud and wood a settlement. At that moment, as if to reinforce what I'd thought just then, we passed by a tiny, four-building residential block. Out of which, as far as I know, only one was occupied

Timburr and I were determined, though. Someday, so he said, it would be a prosperous village - a town, perhaps! He once told me, a little bit under the influence however, that he wanted to make a town "as big as… no, wait, bigger than Treasure Town!" He wanted to make the residents there green with envy!

Who can blame him for having ambitions? I quite liked the sound of it. Treasure Town remains the only sizeable settlement for miles, miles, and more miles here in the frontier. Even if it were fairly close compared to the next city due eastward, I doubted anyone could find room to complain.

And so we came to a sort of agreement one day, during a session of idle chit-chat over the counter of Kecleon and Kecleon's. He would set off to the badlands, he announced, and with a small team of construction workers, he would found his town: the Oasis Outpost!

"After we're all set up," he'd said on that day, "you've gotta help us get established. Trade caravans, you know? Simisage and I can come up with the money, but we need your connections to pull supplies there!" That trade agreement was what had brought us on this journey to the Outpost in the first place.

So went the very short history of the area around us. Not as rich a history as Treasure Town's, and none so fancy an area, but it was - and is still, in fact - in its infancy. It requires time, care, and most certainly, visitors to flock to this place.

As my memories of this place faded away, I took a glance around and let out a cry of shock as I nearly ran into a lumbering Onix. The disgruntled-looking Pokémon shot me an annoyed glance for a second before turning to building at the left and disappearing behind a set of swinging doors. Sighing, I patted my chest and looked toward that building as well. There it was, Shuckle's Saloon, considered by some of the rougher crowd around here to be the Outpost's main attraction.

And it was our main destination as well.

"Come on, everyone," I turned and addressed the Tauros behind me. "Take a load off while I do business with my old friend, would you? Drinks are on me, if you'd like. It's the least I could do after what happened back there."

All three Tauros wore matching grins as they pushed past Scout and I to enter the saloon. They squeezed past the swinging doors and left behind a cloud of dust in their wake. I sighed and shook my head. If that's what it took to get their spirits up, then so be it. I was about to follow in after them, when I felt a small paw grab onto my arm. Looking down, I saw Scout staring up at me with a curious look on her face.

"What is it, Scout?" I asked.

She fiddled with her tail a bit before asking, "Are Shuckle's drinks any good, Strauss? I'm kinda thirsty..."

"Erm… well, it's a bit of an acquired taste, if nothing else," I stammered out, taking care in my choice of words so as to neither encourage nor dissuade her decision. "You might not like it... at least at first! Some Pokémon consider it heavenly, while others call it poison… oh, what am I even saying? We're not here to drink!" I folded my arms across my chest and scowled, "I'll get you some nice berry juice, alright, Scout? We're here to attend to some business, leave the drinking to the Tauros.""

While Scout still looked a little confused, I shook my head and turned around to face the saloon doors. I pushed them aside and let little Scout go in before me. As the two of us entered the dim, cool saloon, Scout and I let out a shared sigh of relief out of escaping that exhausting desert sun.

"I'm headed for the bar, gonna take Strauss up on that offer," I heard one of the Tauros grumble. "Y'all want to join me?"

His offer was met with a pair of lazy, affirmative grunts, and the three of them made their slow, steady way over to the counter where the barmaster, Shuckle, prepares his drinks.

Taking a few deep breaths, I let Scout run off to go play somewhere in the saloon while I let the cool air calm me down. There was a neat, jaunty little piano tune being played somewhere in here, I noticed. Glancing around the place, I noticed a rather talented Haunter sitting before an old, busted up piano.

The spectre's hands hovered over the keys, tapping and pressing the little white bars with surprising deftness. While I was no expert in music, I could tell that this Pokémon was very skilled at playing that instrument. Perhaps that Haunter had been a patron of this saloon for quite a while now, though it couldn't have been more than a few months, I figured. After all, this place was erected rather recently.

Either way, I made a mental note to drop a few Poke into the glass jar by the Haunter's seat. It only seemed polite.

The only other landmark in the parlor was a large, empty stage which took a large space in the middle of the building. I had heard that there were often events held up there; dancers' shows and the like, but I hadn't seen any for myself before and there didn't appear to be anything of the sort going on at the moment.

Although I'd never admit it, I secretly sort of longed to see a show, though. I'd heard that it was a risque, exciting sort of event; something that my brother would enjoy, no doubt, but he was stuck back home tending to Kecleon and Kecleon's. Treasure Town hardly had any place to host such an event, and so it would be an exotic show to be certain. The only problem was that I couldn't seem to catch one... Maybe tonight, I reasoned, I'd have another chance. How I longed to experience such a show…

"Erk..!" ...Only because I admired the skill of a graceful dancer, of course! Nothing more than that! Nothing more!

"...Strauss? You're red as a Tamato Berry. Is something wrong?"

When did Scout get back, exactly?!

Embarrassed, I shot Scout a harsh, silencing glare and cursed my color-changing habits. Someday, I swore to myself, I'll learn to stop so clearly wearing my emotions plain on my proverbial sleeve.

"Come on, let's have a seat by the counter." I pointed at the bar at the other side of the store as I lead Scout with me by hand. Discounting the three Tauros that came with us, there was only one other patron at the bar, and it was someone I knew quite well. "That Geodude over there, that's Brick. He's the one who we've come to see."

Scout and I occupied the last two of the six bar stools, and the Shuckle behind the counter gave us a lazy wave as he prepared a drink for one of the Tauros. As we sat down next to the Geodude, I tapped him on the shoulder, drawing to me a very, very ruddy face. The craggy frown on that boulder's face twisted into a wide, welcoming smile as he sloshed his mug of poison in the air.

"Well now, if it ain't the savior of Oasis Outpost!" Brick bellowed, guffawing like a fool. "We were just thinkin' y'd have gotten out here before the sun came up this mornin'!" he leaned his face in close to mine, giving me a faceful of his rancid breath as he whispered to me. "What took ya, did'ja get lost or somethin'?"

"Worse, actually," I murmured, keeping my gaze firmly planted on the wooden texture of the counter. "Brick... We've been robbed."

"Yer foolin' me, Strauss!" Brick said, chortling. "C'mon, 'y ain't one for bad jokes! Yer always serious and… and…"

His words trailed off as he stared into my eyes. He slammed his mug back down on the counter with just a bit too much force and gaped at me, soundless as his smile slid off his face like mud.

"C'mon now, Strauss. Y'gotta be serious with me, here."

"You said it yourself. I'm not one for jokes, Brick." The grave expression on my face assured him that I was, indeed, serious. After another moment of silence, he found his tongue again.

"Alright, alright." he said. "I'm sorry 'bout that. How'd 'y make away? Is everything alright?"

"Not exactly, I'm afraid. Far from it, in fact." I clasped my claw over my face and shook my head. "Every single piece of valuable cargo's been plucked from the wagon. All that's left is a sorry, overturned mess of planks somewhere way out in the desert."

"...I don't know what to say 'bout that... other than sorry, I guess." Brick fell silent again, scratching the back of his spherical head as he grasped for his next words. "How'd 'y even get yerself into a mess like that? Yer usually so cautious about everythin'... "

Shuckle set down a glass filled to the brim with some kind of viscous, red drink for the Tauros he had been serving, and motioned at me in greeting.

"You look like you're in a bad way, buddy," he said, flashing me a polite smile. "Can I get something for ya?"

"You don't know the half of it." I muttered back. "Give me something to help clear my head a bit, would you?"

"You got it, pal. A shot 'a my very finest Persim Brandy oughta do the trick," Shuckle said with a nod, ducking under the counter to seek out the correct bottle.

"'Ey, Shuckle!" Brick spoke up all of a sudden, pounding his palm against the countertop. "Don't worry about chargin' this poor sap. He's got enough on his plate already! Just put it on my tab, would'ja?"

"Got it." His voice was muffled by several wooden shelves between him and Brick, but his voice rung out understandable enough.

"That's awfully kind of you, Brick," I said, offering him a weary smile. "I really do appreciate it."

"Geh, don' y' go and be all prissy about it! It's the least I c'n do after what y' told me. I hadn't expected y' to run into so much trouble, bud. It was s'posed to be an easy ride, right?"

"Indeed it was. Turned out to be anything but."

Shuckle clanked a glass down on the counter in front of me. A viscous orange fluid sloshed about within.

"Take it slow with that stuff, huh?" Shuckle suggested. "I gave you a mug of my finest, good to cure whatever ails ya inside. Though, it is a bit on the strong side. So don't go about chugging it down like your Tauros buddies over there. 'Less, of course, you fancy lightin' your mouth on fire! Seheheh!"

I nodded and wasted no time in taking a quick sip. It burned my throat on the way down, making me cough and pound my chest. I cupped my palm over my mouth and twitched as I tried to quash down the immense, complicated flavor that had busied itself with ravaging my innards. It was… a strong drink, indeed. Once I had choked down the powerful brandy, I felt the fog in my head clear a bit as the Persim in the drink worked its magic.

"Right, that's a bit better." I said, taking a deep breath to cool off my burning throat. "Now then, where to begin with this gigantic mess…"

I took a moment to gather my thoughts and then began recounting the events of the night prior. Brick, for all his drunken bluster, took the time to listen to my tale of woe without interrupting me. Once I was finished regaling to him the attack by that devilish Cacturne and Trapinch, he patted me on the back and nodded.

"The current state of things is that we had no choice but to come here empty-handed," I concluded with a grimace. "We've got no cargo left, and we weren't even able to save the wagon itself. That damned Cacturne made off with the whole lot. No food, no building materials, nada. It's all gone underneath the blasted sands."

Brick cocked his head slightly - his whole body at once, as it were. "Which way 'dya suppose he was headed?"

"Which way..?" I hadn't thought about that. I took a moment to consider where they might've went. I remembered that the masked bandit had snuck off into the sunset with his Trapinch accomplice tunneling somewhere underground beneath him… Into the sunset... wait, that's it! Yes!

_Wham!_

Brick, Scout and Shuckle all jumped up with a start when I pounded one fist against the countertop. My mug of Persim brandy almost toppled over from the force of my slam. Scout rushed onto the counter and grabbed a hold of it, preventing a huge spill.

"The sun sets in the west!"

"...Yeah, congratulations, Strauss. How's that gonna help us, though?"

"Er, wait, just let me finish! That means… those two blaggards ran off somewhere that way!"

"West outta the Northern Desert, ya say?" Brick echoed, rubbing his craggy chin. "There's only one place y' can head to if y' head west in the middle o' the desert... And y' said his partner went draggin' all yer cargo underground?"

"That's right. Every single crate and barrel went under the sands thanks to that Trapinch of his."

Brick downed the last of his drink in his mug and wiped his mouth, "Then there's only one place 'e could'a gone! An' that place is Quicksand Cave!"

"Is that so?" I hesitated, waiting for him to continue, but no more information came. "Err, I'll be honest with you, I'm not entirely sure what you mean for me to do with this info. I mean, we know where he is, or rather where he _may _be, but… What are we meant to do about it?"

Brick chortled and slapped me on the back, forcing me to cough and wince. "Y' could always grow yerself a pair o' brass and hop down that pit yerself t'beat up those bandits!"

"Brass?" Scout asked, looking at me with my mug in her paws. Blushing, I shook my head at her and shoved Brick's arm off me.

"You make it sound so simple…" I grumbled. "Brick, my friend, did you not hear a single word I said? He beat down the both of us in a single blow each, and that was with what we supposed to be the element of surprise."

"I'm still sore from that," Scout added, sounding cross.

"I could say the same. I'm sorry to say, we're just not cut out to do such a thing." I sighed and patted Scout on the head. "We're running out of options, here…"

"'Fraid there's not much I can do, myself," Brick said, shrugging. "I mean, I fancy myself a bit tougher than y'all, but I ain't no explorer, all the same... If I were to try goin' down to a rough-'n-tumble place like that, why - it'd chew me up and spit me right out, and we'd be back on square one."

"Don't you know anyone who could go down there for us?" Desperation was beginning to coat my voice. How could I not feel despair after hearing that? It was such a huge shipment of goods! Profit aside, losing such a huge caravan load of cargo would set back development here for months!

"I tell 'ya, it'd be a lot easier to get this sorta thing sorted out if that slouch of a mayor would establish a Guild already," he grumbled. "As it is we hardly get any explorers from outta Treasure Town stayin' for more than a day or two, an' only out of passin' interest while they explore the desert." He took a thoughtful pause, seeming to wrack his brain for a solution. Then, a second later, his eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers.

"That's it! I got it!"

"What is it?" I asked, startled by his change in attitude.

He pointed toward the saloon doors and said, "It just so happens I know a couple'a explorers stayin' the night at Maractus Motel! I'll bet ya they c'n help y'out good n' proper, yeah! They'll go down there and boot out that Cacturne, an' they can come back here with all yer loot!"

"Well, sure, they could do it… The question is, will they?" I asked, feeling pessimistic. "To send somebody we don't even know to chase after some bandits… to a place called Quicksand Cave of all things…"

"It beats waitin' here and drownin' yer sorrows in brandy!" He hopped down from his barstool and motioned for us to follow. "Come on Strauss, Scout! I'll take 'ya to 'em!"


	3. A Rude Awakening

**•**

**Tales from Oasis Outpost**

Chapter 3

✦ A Rude Awakening

* * *

><p>"Sai…"<p>

My paws shot up to my ears, muffling that annoying buzzing noise by my head. A bright light dazed me, seeming to shine right through my tightly-shut eyes. Was it morning already? Ugh, it doesn't matter anyway. Still too tired; just let me sleep..!

"Sai, come on!" The buzzing noise kept droning into my ear like a bleating Mareep. What a nuisance! "Don't bury your face in your pillow like that, you'll suffocate!"

"Go away," I grumbled back, my voice muffled by my pillow. I could feel a hot breath blow against my cheeks as he tried to shake me awake. "Quit it, I'm trying to sleep here..."

"S-Sai, it's already noon!" The hot voice said. "You've already slept half the day away!"

Groaning out a muffled snarl, I swiped my paw at the annoyance to make him stop shaking me. A part of me wanted to argue that noon wasn't half a day unless you woke up at midnight on a regular basis, but I decided it wasn't worth the effort. Anyway, who cares if I sleep that long? It's not like anything interesting ever happens in this dusty old ghost town anyway...

"Er, if it's a bad time, we can come back later..." A new voice rang out, a voice that I didn't recognize. The guy sounded like a real snoot, the exact kind of pampered Pokémon that gets on my nerves in all the worst ways. He also sounded too far away to swat at, so I settled for gripping my ears with my paws, flattening them down to the sides of my face and helping to block out all this dreadful noise.

"N-no, it's fine! No trouble at all, really! S-she just had a bad sleep last night, that's all!" To my frustration, Mr. Hot Breath shoved one paw aside and hissed into my now-exposed ear. "Sai, seriously! C-Come on, get up! ...Please?"

Ugh, fine… If only to silence this annoyance, I decided perhaps I could give waking up a shot after all.

I slapped the paw off of my head and rolled onto my back before sitting up. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I looked around my room, still feeling like I'd been counting Mareep for a whole hour. Standing at the foot of my bed were three unfamiliar blobs of color: one lanky and green, and the other two round, brown and squat. When I turned around, I saw a fuzzy mass of cream and blue hovering just inches away from my face - sitting on _my_ bed.

"Ty..." I gave a dangerous, tired mumble to the blur of color next to me, "would you mind telling me what you're doing on my bed, exactly?"

My partner, a Quilava of an age roughly similar to my own, exploded into a bright, red blush as he began to scramble around on the bed like a wet Growlithe. My idiotic companion kicked a load of dust and grit off my sheets, making it even harder for me to see in my half-woken daze.

"Actually, u-uh, this my bed!" Ty spluttered, waving his paws around like an idiot. "Y-you somehow ended up on m-my bed last night, and y-you shoved me right off!"

I gazed over to the other side of the room. He was right. There was another bed there, sheets smooth and pillows untouched. Judging by the distance between it and the window… well, I suppose that is my bed, hm?

"Oh." Scratching behind one ear absentmindedly, I thought back to last night. Ty had fallen asleep early on, snoozing away so solidly on his bed like a log made out of stone. I recalled that I was a little irritated by that, so I meant to dive under his sheets and teach him a lesson about wasting the night away.

Unfortunately… It ended up that I was too tired myself, so I ended up falling asleep before I could do much of anything. A wasted opportunity...

I arched my back, stretching my arms as far as I could, and yawned. The sunlight was streaming through our shuttered windows like little blades of light. Smacking my lips, I stretched out my legs and back as I shook the remaining drowsiness from my head. My claws extended and retracted a few times, and I whipped my star - tipped tail around the bed to energize it.

Little sparks of electricity flew off my proud blue and black fur as I went through my usual wake-up routine, flicking around me like little wisps of light. A single spark landed on my partner's nose, zapping him and making him squeak in shock. I ignored his weak display and got to licking the back of my paw, smoothing it out and grooming my mussed up fur from my nap.

"S-Sai… er, can you get off my bed now…?"

I shot Ty a quizzical stare as I brushed my growing mane back with my paw, "What's wrong with being on your bed, Ty?"

"W- what's wrong?!" A few wisps of orange flame spewed out from Ty's back as he stammered at me. "Y-you're sleeping on my bed! I-is that all you can say about it?! Aren't you e-embarrassed?!"

"Embarrassed…?" I scratched my ear with my hind paws and hummed. "I don't see what's embarrassing about sleeping together. I used to do that all the time with my sister."

"What?! Y-You're not helping your case- Gah, look, that doesn't even matter right now!"

With surprising force, he grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me back and forth, "C'mon, Sai, wake up! W-we've got business to do, we've got visitors, and they want to hire us!"

Annoyed at being handled so roughly, I bared my fangs with a lazy growl and chomped down on his paw, forcing him to let go of me with a pathetic squeak. I gave his soft, creamy fur another quick nibble for good measure before letting go and turning my eyes over to the visitors he was so intent on telling me about.

"Oh, it's the drunkard Geodude," I muttered through a mouthful of fur. Spitting Ty's paw out, I narrowed my eyes into a pointed glare in the direction of the floating rock. "What are you and your rancid breath doing here so early in the day?"

"Er, it's... almost noon," the Geodude said, scratching some grit and pebbles off the back of his head. "As fer why we're here, it's cuz we've got a proposition fer you an' yer partner, Luxio girl."

"A… what?"

Ty took his paw out of his mouth and said to me, "He means a job, Sai! Weren't you paying attention to what I was saying earlier?"

I shot him a quick glare, making him turn back around and stick his stinging paw back into his mouth. Looking back at our visitors, I turned to the two other Pokémon standing in the doorway.

There stood a tall, gangly Pokémon with his whole body covered in dull purple scales; with the exception of a band of searing red zig-zagging across his belly like a target screaming, 'yes, pounce here and attack me all you want!' His buddy fared no better. With a plump, meaty body covered in brown fuzz and a literal white target plastered on her gut, it gave me the idea that she _wanted_ to be pounced on and assaulted.

"I haven't seen the likes of you around here before, tall, lean and scaly." Letting out another yawn, I jabbed a paw at these two prey-looking Pokémon. "What's so important you had to go and interrupt my sleep this early in the morning?"

"It's noon already, sleepyhead!" The little fuzzball hopped onto the bed and gave me a good look-over, not even trying to hide that she had gotten to sizing me up . She then turned around to shrug at the Geodude, "Brick, are you sure these are the right guys? It's just a couple of shorties! I was expecting someone taller... much taller! I mean, like a Dodrio or a big, strong Electabuzz!"

My nostrils flared and my face twisted into an indignant scowl. A few furious sparks crackled off of my fur as I felt my anger boiling up inside. Who was this weak little brat, of all Pokémon, to dare call me a shorty?!

"Scout!"

Her purple-scaled companion hushed his cheeky brat and shoved his claw over her mouth. He glanced at me, his eyes shining with panic and fear as he mouthed an apology.

Feh. At least one of them knew not to step on my paws. I let my anger simmer down, along with the sparks flying off of my fur. The cheeky little thing grappled onto her buddy's arm with her tail and swung herself onto his shoulder. She ducked behind his pointed head, glaring at me with half her face hidden behind his.

I returned her glare with one of my own and sneered,"You're one to talk, half-pint."

"Blehh!" The bratty half-pint spat out her tongue at me from behind her scaly purple friend. If I wasn't still drowsy from being woken up, I would've went ahead and filled that fuzzball full of electri-

"S-so then!" Ty chopped my thoughts off with a wave of his paws. He jumped off the bed and stood before the brown and purple group. "D-do you mind explaining why you're all here again? F-for Sai's sake."

"This here Kecleon," the Geodude looked relieved that someone was changing the subject. He elbowed tall and purple beside him with his arm, making him twitch as the stone limb slammed right into his side., "has got some business fer ya!"

"Business, huh…" Yawning again, I rubbed my eyes and rested my chin on a paw. "What kind of business is it, drunkard?

"The name's Brick, ma'am." He said, tapping his forehead. I just yawned again and waved my paw at him to continue. "Anyway, there's been a bit of an accident. Actually, no. It weren't no accident, but more like a muggin', I think." Drunkard grabbed Purple's shoulder and pointed at him.

With a lazy gaze, I looked over at him and muttered, "So what, you got beat up? Big surprise."

"I-I wasn't beaten up!" He stammered back. "...well, okay, perhaps I was. But that's beside the point! Scout and I, we were on our way to deliver some vital cargo from Treasure Town last night - when a Cacturne and his Trapinch cohort ambushed us in the middle of the night and made off with all our goods!"

"That's horrible!" Ty said, clamping a paw over his mouth in shock. "How could they do such an awful thing?"

"If you spot a fat, helpless Mareep wandering by all on its lonesome," I said, bored. "it'd simply be a waste not to attack it."

"That's even worse!" Ty grabbed onto my shoulder and frowned at me. "Y-you could just leave the Mareep alone, you know! It's not like you _have_ to attack it!"

I shook him off with a weak current of electricity down my shoulder and into his paws. As expected, he sprung off the bed with a squeak and stuck both of his paws in his mouth as his eyes began to water. Sighing, I planted my paw on my face and shook my head. He overreacted too much, that Ty. If only he could toughen up, even just a bit...

"As much as I hate t' admit it," the drunkard Geodude muttered. "Luxio girl's got a point. T'any bandit out there in the desert that night, 'yer caravan must'a looked like a plump Mareep lamb stuffed w' goods and guff. They'd be crazy not to attack it 'fer all the cargo y'been carryin', Strauss."

"I'm well aware of that, Brick." Purple muttered. "And I'm reaping the consequences of my shortsightedness right now…"

"You shouldn't worry about it so much, Strauss!" Fuzzball squeaked. "It was all those dastardly bandits' fault! We only tried to do what was right, and they attacked us for it! They're the ones that should be reaping the consequences, or something!"

"Scout…"

The fuzzball swung her tiny fists around in the air, boxing nothing at all as she wore a confident look on her face, "If only I were a little braver, and maybe a little stronger, too, then I'd go down to their secret hideout and teach them a lesson myself!"

"Scout!" Purple wrapped his arms around Fuzzball, as if he was trying to prevent her from rushing out the door and to danger. Fuzzball looked as though she was about to cry as she hugged him back.

I could feel another yawn threatening to escape my mouth as I watched the sad display in front of me. A pair of sullen fools, they were. A Kecleon and a Sentret, going up against a hardened pair of bandits in their own camp? It'd be like a single Joltik trying to fight off an entire herd of stampeding Blitzle.

"An' that'd be why we're here, Sai."

My ears twitched (along with my nose) when I heard that drunkard call my name. When did he learn it, anyway? I didn't recall telling him before…

"Strauss n' Scout, clever merchants they may be, can't go and take back t' cargo from those bandits 'emselves. They need help getting that cargo back, and soon, too."

"And that's where we come in, right?" Ty, having recovered from my shock, clapped his paws together and nodded at the Geodude.

"'s right," the drunkard slurred back. He scratched the back of his head, scattering a few pebbles and silt on our floor. "Normally we'd call someone down at Treasure Town to come and give'em a hand, but this case be special, you see."

"And it's quite urgent," the Kecleon added. "you see, we were transporting several important pieces of cargo over to Oasis here. Food supplies like berry seeds, lumber and mortar for the buildings, so on and so forth. Losing all of that would be devastating to the growth of this outpost in the long run. Not only that, I doubt those villains know the importance of what they've stolen either, and they might just discard what they don't deem valuable, so we need to get it back as soon as possible!"

Purple dropped onto the floor all of a sudden, his claws clasped above his head in a sad show of desperation, "Please! Oh, please get that cargo back! We need it, more than anything else in this town! If it's money you want for your cooperation, then I would be glad to foot the bill. Just get that cargo ba-"

"Ugh! Would you quit sniveling on the floor like that?" I jammed my paws into my ears and tried to block out his incessant blubbering. "We'll get your stupid loot, just stop whining like a hungry cub!"

"S-Sai!"

Huh? I figured he'd be upset, but instead Ty was giving me this dopey grin... He rushed back onto my (his) bed and threw his arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. I could feel a stifling heat rise up inside me as he rubbed his fluffy cheek against mine.

"I knew you would help them in the end!" He cheered. "Oh Sai, I'm so happy!"

Why was he happy about being burdened with more work? Was he insane?" For that matter, why couldn't I get him off of me?! If his mouth came any closer to my cheek, I'd be unleashing even more electricity than usual!

"We'll be waiting down in the lobby for you two to get...um, ready.," Purple muttered, his skin flushing a pale shade of pink. I knew they could change their skin like that sometimes, but it was still a little off-putting to see. Come, Scout. We can go have a chat with Maractus while we wait.."

Fuzzball, Drunkard and Purple all shuffled out of the room; the three of them looking rather red in the face for whatever reason. Once they left, I managed to somehow disentangle myself from my partner and bonked him over the head with my paw. He flinched, but he didn't stop smiling that dumb smile of his at me. Sighing, I shook my head and rubbed my temple with my paw.

What a troublesome partner. Not only was he a wimp with the willpower of a Mareep, he was nowhere near as strong as a proud Luxray. Even though he was such a weakling, he was always fond of throwing himself into danger for the sake of utter strangers. I often found myself wondering just how stupid he could prove himself to be.

...All the same, I suppose I'm just as much a fool for giving in to that Kecleon's begging. Could it be that I've already softened up that much since then? How mortifying…

* * *

><p>"I cannot believe we're going to march out into the desert in broad daylight," I grumbled as I dragged myself off my (Ty's) bed. "I never should've accepted this stupid job…"<p>

Still feeling cross, I wandered over to the opposite end of the room. A large, rectangular box stood on its side, leaning against the wall. Ty called this thing a 'closet,' and it was where Pokémon usually stored their belongings, so I'd been told. Which meant it was just Ty using it, since I don't keep anything on me at all.

"Sai, come on," Ty complained. "I mean, like them or not, they're paying us to go out and hunt down this outlaw, right? We sorta need the money…"

Right… Money. What an annoying concept. I remember wrinkling my nose and scowling when he first introduced me to this maddening aspect of 'civilized life,' or so he called it. Back on the plains, if I wanted something to eat, I'd forage for it. There was no need to throw heavy bits of metal around just for a single Oran Berry! It totally confounded me at a base level why people would bother with such a thing when they could just see about getting what they need for themselves.

Then, I suppose that's what bandits are all about, huh?

"Money or not, I just wish we could find some less obnoxious customers… Anyway, we need to get packing, I guess."

I threw open the 'closet' and found myself staring at a tiny room made of wood. There was a pile of dust sitting at the corner of the closet, as well as a few berry crumbs and other dirty things. But that was just my corner of the closet. On the other side, Ty had arranged his belongings in a small, neat pile surrounding a small wooden box with a complicated lock on the front; a strongbox, he called it.

Turning around, I jabbed a paw at the strongbox and said to Ty, "Get to it."

He saluted me with almost no hesitation, and bounded over to the closet. He wore the dumbest, happiest grin on his face as he began to finagle with that box. I had no idea how to open the stupid, complicated crate. Ty was far more experienced in these odd contraptions, so it just ended up the simpler solution to let him deal with them.

"I'll get this thing opened in a jiffy, Sai!" He said. "Don't you worry!"

His skillful paws fumbled around with the lock in a cream - colored blur. Twisting here, pushing that, clicking this… it was all confusing and uninteresting to me. Bored, I let my gaze drift away from his paws and down toward his blue backside. That color… it really was the same shade as a ripe, juicy Bluk Berry…

_Gurgle…_

"I'm hungry." I muttered, rubbing my angry stomach. I glanced back down at Ty. The stupid Quilava was so into playing with that lock of his, he didn't even notice my grumble. Feeling a little irked at being ignored, I tapped him on the shoulder with my paw.

"I'm almost done, Sai!" Came his cheery reply. "Just give me a few more seconds, and this lock will be as gone as a Diglett in the rain!"

That wasn't what I meant, you numbskull. He was just too engrossed in that toy of his. It looks like more extreme measures were to be used here. Licking my lips, I leaned forward and pressed my weight against his back, wrapping my front paws around his neck. He jumped up with a shock, and his face turned toward mine as I rested my chin on his small shoulders.

"S-Sai?" He couldn't ignore this now, no matter how distracted he was by the box. "W-what are you doing? I-I'm almost done with the lock, honest!"

"Ty," I repeated, whispering into his ear. "I'm hungry."

"H-hungry?"

Licking my lips again, I rubbed his cheek with mine and murmured into his ear, "If you don't hurry up with that box, Ty…" I paused to nibble on his neck. "I might just have to eat you up instead…"

"E-eat me?!" He stammered as he shuddered from my bite. "Y-you wouldn't think of doing that, would you? We're partners, Sai!"

I pressed my muzzle against the back of his head and gave his fur a long lick, "Who knows? I'm so hungry, I'm not thinking straight." I paused to let my words sink in. "Did you know? From behind, your rump looks just like a plump... tasty… Bluk Berry…"

_Click!_

I let out a quiet yelp when the two of us were thrown back all of a sudden. I landed on my back, with Ty's back still clutched tight in my paws. My dumbfounded partner laid on me, his blue - colored back pressing against my belly as we stared up at the ceiling, a little stunned by the sudden knockback.

"Um… lock's gone now, Sai."

"I see." I muttered, feeling a little disappointed.

"C - can you let go of me now?"

The mood was gone now; no point in grappling onto my prey any longer. Sighing, I released my grip and let the clueless Quilava roll off my belly. The little wimp scrambled away from me, his face burning a brighter red than the flames on his back. I got back onto my feet and trotted over to the strongbox. The lock was laying on the floor beside it, half-melted into a pile of molten slag. The fool must've ended up melting it with a gout of flame after my little threat. I glanced back at Ty, who was fumbling around with his paws.

A part of me wanted to go over and finish what I had started, but another rowdy grumble from my stomach blew that thought out of my mind. For now, sating my hunger was more important than messing with my partner.

"Let's see what's inside..." My stomach was growling again. I peered into the strongbox, my belly craving for anything edible. A berry, perhaps some bread, or even just a biscuit. All I wanted was some sustenance! I dug my paws into the box, tossing out our bags and scarves, along with some of Ty's old books and junk.

When I finally reached the bottom of the box, a depressing sight awaited me. A single Leppa Berry lay there, alone and unappetizing. The tiny berry's red surface gave off a dull, waxy shine. It felt as if it was insulting me; _Were you expecting a feast?_ it jeered. _Well, too bad!_

"Is this really all we've got?" I scoffed as I plucked the sad berry out of the box. My stomach growled in agreement. "I was hoping for something a little more… substantial."

Like meat. If I said that out loud, though, Ty would probably start whimpering and crying for his life. That was simply not worth the trouble of dealing with right now.

"S-sorry, Sai," he said, face still burning a bright red - it brought to mind the horrible, mocking Leppa Berry in my paws. "we haven't been able to afford anything really luxurious lately. Money's been tight, and the stores here aren't very well-stocked…"

Again with the 'affording' and the 'moneying.' What an utter pain.

"B-but!" Ty continued. "Didn't Kecleon say that their cargo had food and other important stuff inside of it? Maybe if we complete this job, they'll reward us with money _and_ a share of the food! Think about it, Sai: a whole feast of rare berries just for us, straight from Treasure Town's finest market!"

I couldn't bring myself to care even one bit about this 'Treasure Town,' but the thought of having an entire pile of berries all to myself was making my mouth water with excitement. Maybe taking this job was a good idea after all, if the reward was that delectable!

I popped the tiny Leppa Berry into my mouth and downed it without even bothering to chew. The feeling of the hard fruit rolling down my gullet in one piece wasn't comfortable in the slightest, despite how small it was. When it finally reached my belly, though, I felt myself jump from the sudden explosion of vigor within my gut.

It was like the Leppa had burst into a ball of fire inside me. A powerful rush of vim and vigor unlike anything I'd ever experienced sparked through my entire body. It started at my limbs, reaching down to my digits and even coursing up to the star-shaped tip of my tail. What a feeling! I'd never tasted such a strange, yet exhilarating flavor before! I looked over at Ty with renewed enthusiasm in my mind, and maybe just a little bit of mischievousness as well...

"Are we ready yet, Ty?" I asked, my voice coming out in a far more chipper tone than usual. "I'm tired of waiting, let's go already!"

"Erm, hang on a moment!" Ty said as he rushed back to the strongbox. He stuffed his paws in it as he began to rummage around inside.

"We don't have much to bring with us… but I'm sure I still have a few things in here we can use..!" He tossed out some more junk from inside the box. Bits of frayed rope, some old seed casings and a dingy old badge all flew out and went clattering against the floor. I felt a little annoyed that he was ignoring me again, but he popped out of the box with a great big grin on his face before I could enact my revenge on him again.

"Here they are!" He exclaimed as he held up both of his paws. I saw some kind of strange blue ball in his paw, as well as a couple of red - colored seeds in the other. Before I could get a better look though, he stuffed them inside his knapsack and threw it over his shoulder.

"What were those?" I demanded, pointing at his knapsack. "I don't remember picking those up…"

"Oh! I guess I should show you, Sai." He put his knapsack down and took out the strange ball and seeds.. "I used to keep these around back when I was still an apprentice at Treasure Town," he explained. There was that name, again, Treasure Town. I made a mental note to ask him sometime when I wasn't buzzing with excitement. "Erm… give me a minute. They all look kinda the same to me, so let me… find the tag… aha!" He flashed a smile at me and held out the paw-sized orb to me, "Okay… this one's called an Escape Orb. It's a special tool that explorers back at Treasure Town use to get them out of tight jams while they're out on expeditions."

He held the orb up to eye level and continued his explanation, "You see, when you hold this up past your head, it'll take you and anyone else you're holding on to back to where you last deemed to be your home. For example, if I were to use it right now, it would take me down to the lobby of this building! It even works underground too! Convenient, isn't it?"

"So… it's just a tool to help you run away?" My excitement began to dwindle as I heard him talk about his little toy.

"Erm…" He scratched the back of his head as the smile on his face began to slip. "W-well… it's, _kinda _like that? I wouldn't call it running away, but more like… a tactical retreat! You know, in case things go sour."

"You sound oddly reliant on it," I remarked with a scowl. "A retreat's a retreat, no matter how you excuse it! What a pitiful thought, Ty! You shouldn't need to carry such a cowardly thing around with you!"

"B-but-!"

"How pathetic," I cut him off with a growl, shoving my paw against his chest. "No pride leader would ever _plan_ for a retreat! Running away is the weakest thing you could ever do as a Pokémon! If you get yourself into a fight, then you fight up until the very end!"

"H-Huh? S-Sai, what's gotten into you all of a sudden? Why are you so mad?" He looked confused, waving his paws around like a fool. "Escape Orbs are passed out to all explorers as a means of protection, like a failsafe! I-it's not cowardly at all! Think about it, Sai - what if we get trapped inside of a cavern with no way out? Without the Escape Orb, we'd be in a real dangerous situation! What would we do then?"

"T-then… Well, we'd just have to dig ourselves out, with our bare paws!" I retorted.

"Sai… not even you can burrow through several miles of sand and rock with just your paws…"

"E-Ergh..!"

I hated to admit it, but my partner had a point. While it burned me up inside to even think about having to rely on such a coward's tool, I knew that having such an item on hand would be an immense help if we _were_ to get into any trouble. No matter how much I wanted to continue protesting, though, my instincts told me that it would be a far safer trip with that little ball that Ty had in his paws.

"Sai… I don't want to see you hurt again," Ty muttered. "please, just take it along. Just in case, okay?"

I swore under my breath. There was that look on his face again… that pleading, weak expression he wore specially for when he wanted to convince me of something. As much as I hated how much of a coward he could be at times… I just couldn't help but fall for that adorable, dopey face of his… Agh! 'Adorable?' Just what am I thinking about here?!

Shaking my head, I set my mouth into a frown and turned away from his stupid face.

"Fine then, take the stupid thing along!" I grumbled in the coarsest voice I could muster. "Just hope I don't catch you in a situation where you'd need to use it!

"Sai…"

"Stop looking at me like that and let's get a move on!"

To drive home my command, I opened my mouth and attempted to cut loose a threatening roar at him, just like a proud Luxray would when dealing with interlopers and disobedient subordinates! First I reared back and took a deep breath, and then..!

"_Gaaaaaoo...eee!"_

…

A scalding heat rose to my cheeks as I stood there, mouth agape and throat aching. A tingling sensation arose in the back of my head as I felt a wave of embarrassment flood through me. One paw rose to my face in an attempt to cover my blush, but it was too late for that now.

"Sai? Were you just trying to roar again?" Ty held his paw over his mouth, trying and failing to hide an overly-amused grin from me. "It sounded way more cute than scary…"

I wanted to get even angrier at him, but his reaction to my horrible failure of a roar just embarrassed me more than anything. Gah… if it were possible to pounce at my own throat, believe me: I would be all over it like a lone Mareep separated from its herd! No matter how I'd try, I was simply unable to roar!

Frustrated at myself and at Ty, I shut my gob and sent my partner a soundless glare before turning around to face the door.

"H-hey, wait up! Sai, don't leave without me!"

* * *

><p>Maractus Motel was a relatively small, two story building, with the room Ty and I were staying in located on the second floor. It was a simple matter to get back to the lobby: We went outside through the only door in the room, and then simply wrapped around to the front, back to the lobby.<p>

When we entered the building a second time, we saw our 'clients' Purple and Fuzzball sitting at a small table near the counter. They seemed to be discussing something with the owner of the place, a pleasant Maractus girl who was letting Ty and I snooze in that room for no payment at all. Good thing too; neither of us had anything of value on ourselves at all when we first came to this dump of a town.

"Oh! You're here!" Purple jumped off his seat, waving his arm at me. "Are you two suitably prepared for your trip?"

Maractus stood up from her seat as well, and bowed at Ty and I as we went over to where they were sitting. Before I could say anything to her though, she disappeared into a door located just behind her counter. It was the same way when we first came to her for help; she simply took our business and disappeared without so much as a question as to who we were or where we came from. She struck me as oddly mysterious for such an otherwise kind lady.

"Don't make it sound like a leisure trip," I said. "Don't forget. We're heading there to take down some bandits, not to enjoy the sights."

"Err… right, right." He wrung his claws together, looking apologetic. "I apologize."

I snorted at his reaction and said, "So will you and your little fuzzball of a partner be waiting here until we return?"

"Hey!" Fuzzball made to spring off her chair in protest, but her caretaker held his claw in front of her face, halting her without a word.

"That's right," he said. "the two of us can't return to Treasure Town until we deliver our cargo, anyway. The best we can do is wait here and pray for your success."

Bah, what a coward. Couldn't he think of anything better to do than stand by, idle and useless? It didn't surprise me though, given how badly his encounter with the bandit had gone in the first place.

"Oh, that's right!" All of a sudden, he clapped his claws together and rushed back to his seat. A small bag was lying on a table beside it.. From inside the bag, he produced another one of those small, glassy balls - it looked exactly like the Escape Orb that Ty had shown me earlier.

"I'd like you to take this along with you, as well." He said, offering me the orb. I motioned for Ty to take it for me; I had zero interest in another tool aiding in a "tactical retreat." He took the ball and gave it a look over, turning it this way and that just as he'd done with the one from before.

"What's this..?" He asked. "I don't recognize this orb…"

Purple walked up and tapped the surface of the orb with his claw, "I don't expect you to. This orb isn't one that your average explorer would need to use.'

"Then what is it?" Ty asked, cocking his head slightly.

"This is a specialized orb called a Beacon Orb." Purple explained. "When activated, it produces a tall pillar of light at your feet. That light can be seen for miles and miles away, and it can even shine through layers upon layers of solid ground!."

"I see!" Ty looked awed as he held the orb before his eyes. "That's really incredible! I've never heard of such a useful orb before!"

"Well… like I said, it's not often used by explorers. It does produce that powerful beacon of light, but… Well, that's all it does." Purple cleared his throat and sat back down in his seat. "Anyway! Your goal is to find those bandits in the Quicksand Cave and defeat them, reclaiming our cargo. Once you do, activate that orb. Brick has prepared a transport team to retrieve the goods so you don't need to overwork your selves carrying all of it out of there."

"Wow… that's really nice of you!" As always, Ty was a fair bit more enthusiastic than I was.

"Yeah. Great." Not bothering to hide my disinterest, I flicked my tail towards the door. "Anyway, we've stalled here long we're to make it back here by sundown, we should get going soon." I had a dry chuckle at Purple's expense and added, "Unless our scaly friend is willing to wait a little bit longer for his precious cargo to return."

"What-? N-No, I've already told you how disastrous it would be to wait any longer!" His entire body turned a bright yellow, and he began to wave his arms around like an Emolga caught in a tornado.

Barking out a laugh, I turned around and made for the door, "Then you better start praying hard, Purple!"

I turned around and motioned for Ty to follow. He stuffed that Beacon whatever into his knapsack and rushed over to my side. After sharing a quick nod with him, I pushed open the front door and made my way out to the streets.

Time for an adventure.


	4. Showdown in Quicksand Cave

**•**

**Tales from Oasis Outpost**

Chapter 4

✦ Showdown in Quicksand Cave

* * *

><p>If there was ever a place more boring than the Northern Desert, then I'd never want to see it. Ever since I was just a young Shinx, I'd only heard tales of this place from friends and family. Stories about how dangerous it was to trek through the searing mounds of sand, and how daring one must be to even attempt a trip to this horrifying place. Bandits roamed the dunes, so they said, attacking wayfarers and adventurers alike. Great tornadoes of sand would swirl across the desert for miles, not stopping for anything.<p>

All that time ago, hearing these tales only made this place seem all the more exciting… Alas, reality couldn't hold a candle to the exciting, treacherous wasteland I'd dreamed up. Two hours had passed since Ty and I had entered this barren field of sand and heat. And in those

two hours, nothing happened whatsoever. No danger, no bandits, no cyclones. Nothing at all.

In the end, what should've been an exciting trip fraught with danger and adventure ended up as a monotonous hike through the sizzling hot desert. If the sun wasn't hiding so high up in the sky, then I would've pounced on it and taken it down in an instant! All this blasted heat… it was making my fur feel like it was about to burst into flames at any moment!

Desperate for anything to take my mind off of this unbearable heat, I turned to Ty to see how he was doing. If this heat was making me feel like I was about to go up in flames then Ty must already be a smoldering pile of ash by now!

"Hm, hm, hm…!"

Are you kidding me? That stupid Quilava looked like he was unaffected… no, even enjoying this unbearable heat! He had a dopey smile on his face, and he was even humming a jaunty little tune! It was unbelievable! I wanted to just pounce on him, pin him down on the sand, and then force him to carry me through the desert on his back! He certainly looked like he was comfortable enough for the both of us!

"Hey, Sai!"

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud shout from Ty. He had stood up on his hind legs all of a sudden, and was jabbing a paw at something wavy in the distance.

"Do you see that?" He asked. "It looks like a bunch of wood sticking out of the sand! Let's go check it out!"

Before I had a chance to bully him into giving me a free ride through the desert, the Quilava dashed off toward the pile of something or other he saw ahead of us. Feeling as though I'd just lost my chance at revenge, I let out a frustrated grumble and dragged myself through the heat after him.

"Sai, look at this!"

Ty stood before a pile of wooden scrap half-buried in the sand. From what I could tell, it looked like a bunch of busted up planks of wood and other random bits of junk lying around. I walked up to one of the larger pieces of rubble and placed my paw on it. It didn't have the smooth, worn down feeling of something that had been stuck in the desert for a while. This bunch of junk must've been recent, I reckoned.

"What could this be for?" I wondered aloud, rubbing my paw over its smooth surface. "I mean, what's a wooden wheel doing all the way out here?"

"This?" Ty ran up beside me and stared at it for a moment. "Well, this looks like it goes… er, went, to a wagon…"

"A wagon wheel?" I repeated. I looked back at all the pieces of wood lying around the sand, examining them closer. Most of the wood had been smashed to splinters, making it unusable for anything but stepping on and spearing your paw by mistake! Some of the planks were more intact, though, and those ones were gigantic; bigger than me, even.

At first, I had no clue as to what all of this garbage was doing out here in middle of nowhere. But then, after a moment's thought trying to piece it together, it all clicked inside my mind just what this meant.

"Wahah!" I reared my head back and laughed into the sky. "Wahahahaha!"

"Huh?" Ty looked startled by my sudden, loud laughter. "Uh, Sai-?"

"Ty, don't you realize?" I said, patting him on the back. "We're looking at what's left of Purple's caravan! Look, I even see a few more wheels over that way!"

"O-oh, gosh…! This is the caravan…?" His eyes widened, and he set himself trembling as his imagination went wild with fear. "T-they just got robbed, right? If that's all that happened, then how did this happen to their wagon…?"

I grinned and let a few sparks fly from the tips of my fur as a wave of excitement rushed over me. "This is getting interesting! If this Cacturne guy can scrap a whole wagon into a pile of junk like this, then he must be really strong!" I kicked the wheel over into the sand and turned toward Ty. "Come on, Ty, let's get going!"

"I-I don't think that's something you should be excited about, Sai!"

* * *

><p>Just what time was it now? It'd been so long since we'd entered this blasted desert, I'd lost track… All I knew was that the sun was still high in the sky, as bright and sweltering as ever. …Was this really where we were supposed to be, though? We'd been told to go into a Quicksand Cave. While I could see dunes of shifting sand for leagues all around us, there was no cave in sight.<p>

Instead, we arrived at a massive fissure in the ground, stretching out before and around us. Dusty grains of gold tumbled down from the cliff above, into the deep pit below. It looked like a waterfall, only with sand instead of water. It was mesmerizing to watch all the sand spill into the massive crevasse, although I had to admit it made me a bit uneasy being so close to the edge of such a long drop.

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this development. It was… something, other than the rolling dunes of sand we'd been wandering around for hours. But this didn't look like a place anyone could hide out in, much less stash a whole caravan's worth of stolen goods. Anywhere else in the desert would've made far more sense - a cave, maybe, or a even small alcove dug into a boulder. And even then… Purple did call the place we were supposed to be heading to the 'Quicksand Cave…'

"Are you sure we're in the right place, Sai?" Ty cocked his head and looked at me. "I don't see any 'caves' around here…" I was a bit relieved to hear that Ty was worried about it, too.

"Purple didn't tell us exactly to look out for, but we didn't come across anything else that looks like a cave…" I continued to stare over the sandfall, wracking my brain for a solution…

I kicked a wave of sand over the edge out of frustration. A feeling of irritation burned inside of me as I watched the grains get sucked down into the abyss. I did not come all this way, scorching my paws on all this hot sand and burning my fur in the desert sun just to find a whole lot of nothing!

"Ack!"

An insolent rock, carried by the desert breeze, struck the back of my hind legs. It was like the desert itself was laughing at me, snickering at my wasted time! My anger was reaching a boiling point as I glared at the little rock by my feet…

"Gaaah!" Snarling, I reached back, chomped down on that irritating rock, and hurled it toward the sand-covered cliff!

The rock sailed over the chasm and slipped right through the sandfall. Grunting more out of frustration than effort, I watched as it vanished behind the sands as if it were swallowed. My mouth curled into a slight, prideful smirk. Take that, you stupid wall. Choke on that rock!

"Sai, Sai! Did you see that?!" All of a sudden, my partner's face popped into my vision. He was waving around his arms like an excitable cub again, while wearing that trademark goofy smile of his .

"What is it, Ty?" I growled. I was not in the mood for any of his silly games right now! Couldn't he give me a minute to cool off first?!

"S-Sai, don't… glare at me like that…" Ty stammered, shrinking under my gaze.

"I'll glare at you however I want," I hissed. "Now get to it - what do you want?!"

Ty flinched and hid his face behind his knapsack, "A-alright! J-just… calm down, okay? Please?" He scrambled around on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust as he rummaged about in the sand. A few seconds later, he came back up with a small, sun-bleached rock in his paw.

"Here, Sai, watch!" He took a deep breath and put on a confident look on his face as he reared back to throw the stone. Where was he going with this, now?

"Hah!"

Once again, the stone flew over the crevasse and slid into the sandfall ahead. I sat back on my haunches and watched the sand swallow up the little white missile. At first, I wanted to tackle Ty and berate him for wasting my time. Before I had the chance, I heard a loud clack! echo back at us.

"Did you hear that, Sai?" Ty said, excited. "It sounded like it hit something hard after it flew through the sand!" The Quilava looked proud of himself as he began to explain it to me, "It can't have hit the cliff wall, since a few seconds passed after it traveled through the sandfall before it made a sound. And it can't have hit the bottom of the crevasse either, since - like you said - there's too much sand down there to make a noise!"

"So then… that means?"

Ty puffed out his little chest and smiled wide, "There must be something hidden behind that curtain of sand! It has to be a cave - you know, Quicksand Cave!"

I stared at Ty as I tried to process what he just told me. The pieces were beginning to fall into place inside my mind, and with it, a smile crept onto my face.

"Ty… Ty, that's it! You're a genius!" I cheered. All my frustration vanished as I pounced onto my genius of a partner out of sheer happiness.

"S-Sai!" He stammered under me, the creamy fur on his face flushing red again. Not that I cared. I stood on top of him and shot that wall a triumphant glare, as if it was a foe that I just struck down with my own paws!

"If there really is a cave hiding behind there, then all we have to do is jump through that little blanket of sand!" I climbed off of Ty and stood at the edge of the chasm before us.

"But… How do we get through?" Ty murmured. "Not only is there a big canyon between us and the cliff wall, there's also the issue of the falling sand…"

"Don't be such a wimp, Ty!" I shouted. "This gap isn't wide at all. All we have to do is jump!"

"J-jump?!"

"That's right, just jump!" I flashed my partner a mischievous smile and turned my back to him. "Watch, it's easy!"

"S-Sai?! W-wait, wait! Don't do it!"

I took a few steps away from the edge of the cliff to give myself some space for a running start. Then, once I'd prepared myself, I crouched low, gave my rump a quick shake for good luck, and broke out into a dash!

"Hyaaaah!"

I clenched my eyes and mouth shut tight as I sailed over the ravine and through the curtain of sand. It was like rushing through a waterfall - just heavier, and a whole lot dustier than I would've liked. My flight didn't last long at all; mere seconds after passing through the sandfall, I felt my paws touch solid rock. I'd stuck quite a solid landing; it was a shame Ty wasn't able to see through the sandy curtain to see it.

To my delight, he was right. There was a large cave hidden behind the flowing sand. Even better, it wasn't far at all from where we'd been standing! Even Ty should be able to make that jump. Of course, it would mean he'd have to buck up and jump after me, buuut…

"…ai! Oh my gosh, Sai! Please, are you alright?! Answer me!"

I sighed and shook my head. Even though the noise that was caused by the sandfall, I could still hear Ty's endless panicking and screaming. I turned and walked over to the cavern entrance, thinking for a moment about how I could get him to buck up and make that jump… Then, an idea came to me.

"E-eeek!" I mimicked the voice of my little sister as best I could, and cut loose a loud shriek. "Ty, h-help me!"

"What? Sai!? Sai! Answer me, what happened?!"

Hah, bingo! Like a hapless Mareep walking straight into an ambush, he fell for it just like that.

"Ty, please help me!" I continued yelling out loud in my fake, girlish voice. The sheer girliness spewing out of my mouth made me want to gag. It seemed to be working on the ever-gullible Ty, though, so I would just have to deal with it. "I-I'm slipping off! I can't hold on much longer! Hurry!"

"Oh… oh my gosh…!" Ty's voice had a very nervous, panicky tone to it now - even more than usual. Although I couldn't see him through all this sand, I could just tell that he was pacing around like a fool, trying to figure out how to best 'save' me from my imaginary predicament. All he needed now is one last push, I reckoned.

"Ty!" I turned my voice up even higher now. At this point, I couldn't even recognize the sounds coming from my throat! "Please, Ty, I'm going to fall! Save meee!"

"Aaagh! A-alright, Sai, I'm on my way!"

That did the trick. Grinning, I shut my mouth to give my aching throat a rest, stepped aside from the mouth of the cave and plopped my rear onto the floor. A second later, a long blur of cream and blue tore through the sand and tumbled into the cavern. I covered my face with my paws as his dramatic entrance kicked up a cloud of sand.

"Sai!" Without even noticing that I was just sitting there, my stupid partner spun around and dove back towards the sandfall. I watched, amused, as he stuck his head into the sand and scanned around for any sign of a falling Luxio.

"Glad to see you made it over, Ty."

I had to cover my face again as another wave of sand came spraying toward me. Couldn't he go a little easier pulling his head out of the sand? He sat on the floor of the cave, gaping at me with a stunned look on his face. It took a good minute for him to process what happened, and it took another for him to stop stammering long enough to form a coherent sentence.

"S-Sai? You're… safe?"

I couldn't help but smirk at the bewildered look on his face, "Took you long enough, Ty."

Ty continued to gape at me as I cut loose a loud yawn. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I stood up and strode past him, giving him a light tap on the back with my tail as I passed by. Now that he was here, there\ was no point in just sitting here at the entrance. After all, those bandits must be deeper down in the cave-.

"H-hold on, Sai!"

A sudden wave of heat blew against my back. I almost tripped and fell onto my face from the blast! I twisted my face into a little snarl, but it softened when I turned around and saw Ty glaring at me. He had ignited the patches of flame on his head and back, casting a bright orange glow onto the sandstone walls around us.

He took a step toward me and growled, "Sai! Seriously, come on! I-I thought you were in some real trouble, there!" He dropped onto all fours and let the flames on his back grow even brighter as he glared at me.

"What's the matter, Ty?" I felt myself back away from the raging bonfire in front of me. It wasn't often I'd seen Ty get that angry, and it was beginning to both excite and worry me. Grinning, I held up my paw and said, "We're both fine. We might be covered in a little bit of sand, and we've got to deal with stuffy cave for a while, but we're not in any danger. It's not a big deal!"

I reared back to chuckle, but another wave of heat washed against my face. I hissed and slapped my paws over my cheeks, rubbing the singed fur on my face. All of a sudden, I felt a pair of paws press onto my own. When I opened my eyes again, Ty's angry face filled my vision.

"No, it is a big deal!" He shouted at me. "H-how can you possibly be so reckless, Sai? Think about it! What if you… what if you missed the cliff when you jumped, huh?! What… what if the sandfall was stronger? You could've been washed away into that big crevasse down there!"

"Well, I didn't, and it wasn't. So that's nothing worry about, right?"

Ty frowned and shook his head, "No, Sai! It is something to worry about! We're partners, you know? We need to be able to trust each other! What if you did miss? What if the sandfall was too strong, and you disappeared down there, Sai?" I opened my mouth to reply, but stopped when I saw something drip down his cheek, shimmering in his own dim light. He took his paws off of me and turned away, wiping the tears from his face.

"Ty…"

"I don't… I don't want you to leave me alone, Sai…" He mumbled.

A sudden memory flashed inside my mind when I saw his tearstained face, drawing a long sigh out of me. Maybe I did go a little too far with that prank. If it was bad enough to make Ty look like that again, then it just wasn't worth the fun. Shaking my head, I put on a small smile and patted my sobbing partner on the shoulder with one paw.

"Ty, look," I said. "I'm sorry for that stunt I pulled. Really sorry. And… I didn't mean to make you cry. I just wanted to tease you a bit, not… worry you like that."

"You're always teasing me, Sai…" He grumbled. His voice still had a bit of an edge to it, but the flames on his back were shrinking. Looked like he was calming down now.

"Of course I am!" I retorted with a grin, trying to lighten the mood a little. "How else are you gonna grow up, if not for me giving you a push every once in a while? You know something, at least this time you grew a bit of a spine and snapped back at me instead of pouting!" I poked him in the forehead with my paw and added, "Good job!"

A radiant shade of red splashed across his cheeks as I patted his head. He jabbed his paw at me and stammered, "I-I wasn't snapping! I just wanted to tell you how I felt!"

Snickering, I grabbed his paw and clamped my teeth down on it. He gasped and blushed even harder as I nibbled on his creamy fur.

"S-Sai!"

"I'll make it up to you later, okay Ty?" I said through a mouthful of his paw. I spat him out and winked as I turned around, leaving him to simmer in his own embarrassment while I began to make my way deeper into the cave.

As much as I love to tease and trick that dumb Quilava of mine, I still want him to grow up a bit. After all, he's the only Pokémon I can trust now. And if I want a Pokémon to watch my back, I'll need him to be strong… even stronger than me.

"Right. That coward's got to be down here somewhere…" I gazed forward into the cave before us. It was… very dark. The small amount of light that seeped through the wall of sand faded out a short distance in, leaving the rest of the cave all but pitch-black. "…The problem will be to find him. Ty, you think you can do that fire thing of yours again?"

"Huh? Oh… y-yeah, sure." He took in a huge gulp of air and shut his mouth tight, holding it in. After a few seconds…

Fwoosh!

"Haah!" He exhaled, puffing out all the air he'd stored up in his cheeks. The flames on his back flared up in response, giving us more than enough light to see by. Now that he path was lit enough to travel, we set forth into the twisting corridor.

* * *

><p>Our footsteps bounced off of the hard sandstone walls, filling the silence with the dull echoed pitter-patter of our paws hitting the ground. There wasn't much else to pay attention to until we found what we were looking for… I worried I might die of boredom before we got anywhere, though. Ty, being his usual dopey self, didn't seem to mind at all.<p>

"Sai, check this out!" He came to a sudden stop, his voice teeming with excitement.

"What, what is it?" I asked. "Did you find something? I don't see anything up there…" I craned my neck forward, but all I saw ahead of us was sand, rock and darkness. Looking back towards Ty, I noticed he had begun staring at the wall.

"What in the world are you looking at, Ty?" I frowned. Had he gone mad or what?

"Sai, look at all this quartz! The sandstone around here is loaded with the stuff - I've never seen such a huge deposit in my life!" His eyes twinkled in the light of his own fire as he gazed at… the wall. "I hope I can find a piece to bring home…!"

All I could see interesting about it were some stripes of a paler tan in the orangey stone around it. Was that the 'quartz,' then? A bright, lustrous gem had come to mind when I heard Ty get excited about it - not just a different kind of stone!

"Ty, you stopped us for a rock?!" I wanted to smack him! The journey to Cacturne's hideout was obnoxious and boring enough without having to stop for a geology lesson! "Let's get going, you fool…"

"B-But, Sai-!" I cut him off by dragging him by his front leg until he started walking on his own. "Ow, ow, okay fine…!"

It was some time before anything else interesting happened. I couldn't tell just how long; it wasn't very easy to tell time when I was in a pitch-black cave doing nothing but walking forward and being bored out of my mind. After a while, though, we got a change of scenery at last. Ty, having led the way since he was the one with the light, called back to me:

"Sai, Sai! Come here, look!" He sounded just as excited as he had before.

"What is it, huh? More rocks?" I wasn't going to get my hopes up. Chances are, it was just going to be something boring and mind-numbing again.

"No, not that! Just- come on, check this out!"

Alright, fine, then. I still refused to hurry over; I took my sweet time strolling over to Ty. As I descended the last downward slope between us, though, I saw that he had indeed stopped for a good reason this time.

The mouth of the tunnel opened up wide, granting us a break from the claustrophobic path we'd taken thus far. Instead, the ceiling rose far above our heads, and we found ourselves on a ledge overlooking a small chasm. Streaks of sunlight streamed in from above through cracks in the sandstone; through those same cracks, tiny trickles of sand fell. Thanks to the tiny amount of light slipping through from holes in the ceiling above, the whole place was lit just enough to see by.

"Hey, Ty. I don't think you need to keep that fire of yours going any longer. Tone it down, will ya?" He didn't seem too bothered - being that he shot that fire out of his back all the time, I figured he was used to the heat - but even though the caverns below the surface were a bit cooler than the desert above, it got stuffy pretty fast with his flames on full blast in a cramped, enclosed space like the tunnel.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, okay!" The torch on his back died down, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "It's sorta tough to keep it going steady like that for so long…" It was a relief for that stupid, sweltering heat to die down after so long stuck right next to it, too.

I took a moment to give our surroundings a closer look over before we continued on. Peering over the edge, I found that we were in a sort of double-layered ravine - we were on the upper passage, on a narrow sandstone ledge just wide enough for the both of us to walk side-by-side. Below us there was a 'ground floor,' which looked to be covered in a bed of sand rather than floored by stone.

Along the walls of the lower path were a number of small, shallow cubbyholes cut out of the striped orange stone. Some of them looked much deeper than others… Some even big enough for, say, a wimpy cactus and his Trapinch cohort to hide with a caravan-load of loot.

"I think we're close," I mumbled, as a smirk crept onto my face. "Keep your voice down, so they don't hear us coming." I motioned for him to follow me, and together we edged along the ravine, looking for a way to the bottom.

* * *

><p>"Rgh…" After some time searching for a ramp down, I huffed in frustration. Peering down at the floor below, it looked to be a straight drop down… The trouble with it was, while climbing trees was no trouble for me thanks to my awesome, sharp claws, a wall of solid stone is… a bit beyond my capabilities. Blasted cave! If there was just an easy way down, like a ramp or even a ladder or something - we could have already gotten down there and beaten up those bandits!<p>

My silent seething was interrupted when my paw caught on something and I stumbled forward, crashing into Ty's rear. He yelped and whipped around to face me, looking far more startled than he had any right to be.

"O-Oh… It's just you, Sai. I sorta… Well, it's pretty dark in here, and-"

"Oh, enough. It wasn't the dark, I just tripped on something and crashed into you outta nowhere - that's what spooked you." I righted myself and dusted myself off, turning back to where I'd tripped. "I just want to know what happened there." On closer inspection, I found that two splintery, dried pieces of wood had been pounded into the edge of the cliff. They barely fit into their holes, making it look as if they'd been installed in a bit of a hurry. Attached to them were a few pieces of rope, and… "Hah! Looks like we found our way down."

It was a ladder! The rope on one side looked like it had somehow been torn and frayed, but a quick tug reassured that it would still hold fast. …In theory. It wasn't too long a drop, anyway… Erk. Now I was feeling a bit less excited about it.

Although I knew full well what a ladder was, I'd never had to use one before. After all, back in the Amp Plains, there were easy enough ways to get up just about wherever you'd need to. Most often, just climbing over a small hill would bring you to the summit of any cliff that needed climbing. I quite preferred that way, too. The thought of slipping off one of the flimsy wooden rungs and falling flat on my back into a bed of sand who knows how thick… It was sort of scary to think about. I shuddered and took a step back, motioning my companion forward instead.

"Why… don't you head down first, Ty?" I flashed him the most sincere smile I could muster, feeling just a touch guilty for being such a coward. It was unlike me, and I knew it… but, I reasoned, if I got myself knocked out by a mere ladder, how would I help Ty catch the bandits? Yes, that was a fine line of reasoning. Forcing the obvious other side of the argument out of my head, I cut that train of thought off and kept my focus on the matter at hand.

"Uh, alright. No problem." Well, at least the poor fool hadn't asked why. At the least, seeing how he went down would make myself more confident about it. He gripped each side of the rope and hopped down each rung one at a time. After a minute, he had reached the sandy bottom floor, no problem. I could manage that. "Come on down, Sai."

"Right." I couldn't figure out any better way to do it, so I did just as Ty had and backed towards the ladder, taking about as much care as I could manage. Now I just had to get on the thing and I'd be set. My stomach lurched as my back paw left the ground, but I choked down the embarrassing squeak that threatened to escape my maw and let my other paw down.

Alright. On the ladder… The flimsy rope seemed to be holding. It felt sturdier than I expected under my weight, a realization that made me heave a sigh of relief. From there, it was just one paw after the other. I scurried down the ladder much faster than I'd mounted it, eager to be done with the thing, and at long last I was back on sweet, solid ground. Or, as solid as a bed of sand could be, at least. I shook my head and motioned forward.

"Let's keep going," I mumbled. "Cacturne's gotta be down here somewhere."

Despite a different, much wider path to travel, the cave was still just as boring as it'd been when we first entered. Ty had, at least, suppressed his fascination with the cold stone walls long enough to keep a steady pace.

The sandy floor felt a bit nicer under me than the hard rock we'd been on until now, although I had a sneaking suspicion I'd be plucking sand out of my fur for quite some time after today. Other than that, it was the same dusty old cave, only a bit lower this time. However, from down here I could see that I'd been right before - a few larger tunnels branched off from the bottom floor of the ravine, big enough without a doubt to stow away a load of cargo.

"I just wish there was somethin' nicer to look at down here," I grumbled under my breath. I wasn't sure how much longer I could last down in this drab pit before I wound up going insane.

"Cheer up, Sai," Ty said with a grin. "We'll find them soon, right?"

"Yeah." I could only hope so. "Then I'll blow off some steam with that spiky green punching bag!" The thought did manage to put a bit of a spring in my step.

"I wonder where they are, though…?" His grin slipped a bit, giving way to a tired frown. "We have been down here for a good while, and no sign of them at all…" Hah! I knew he couldn't have been as content as he looked. I felt more relieved than smug, though, knowing that it wasn't just me getting impatient here.

"Well, they've gotta be close, right?" I reasoned. Now it seemed it was my turn to cheer him up. "After all, we found that ladder just now. I bet he's-"

We both stopped in our tracks as a shrill, obnoxious cackle echoed through the cave.

"I think we just found our mark," I said. I kept my voice quiet, knowing now we were close. "Listen up, Ty… Follow behind me closely, and keep your mouth shut. We'll hunt 'em down just like I did back on the Plains. They won't know what hit 'em!"

All the confirmation he gave was an uneasy nod in return.

"You don't look so sure," I scoffed. "You gonna leave me behind here or what, Ty? Maybe I should just run on ahead, and leave you behind?"

"N-No, that's not it at all!" He gave me a hasty shake of his head. "It's just that- well… I've never fought a bandit like them before. I-it's kind of intimidating, you know…?"

Ugh. Now was not the best time for him to be having second thoughts.

"There's no time for a pep talk right now. Just… know that he's all talk, I can guarantee it." Actually, I wasn't so sure, given what we saw of the caravan earlier… It was a win-win situation, though: either we get an easy fight and walk away unscathed, or we get a real challenge to test our mettle and come out on top anyway! With a spring in my step, I set forth walking in the direction of the laugh we'd heard, motioning for Ty to follow. "Otherwise he wouldn't need to stow away in some musty old cavern, right?"

"Y-Yeah… yeah, that makes sense. Thanks, Sai." He did seem a bit less on edge now. Good. Maybe he wouldn't prove to be dead weight after all.

Another echo rang out from a tunnel just near us.

"Say, you remembered to take the ladder down, right?" There was no mistaking it: from what I'd heard of him, that was Cacturne talking.

"M-Me? Boss, you… went down after me… I thought you took it down." That voice was much quieter and meeker than the first, but it was still audible. That would be his Trapinch cohort, then.

"Kyeh? You fool! What if we've been followed?!"

"S-Sorry, Boss…! But, w-who would come all the way down here looking for us, anyway…? It's not a big deal, right?" I glanced at Ty and we shared an amused smirk as our eyes met. The setup seemed too perfect!

We now found ourselves at the mouth of the cave they were hiding in. This was it! My pulse raced in anticipation. I couldn't wait to pummel that blasted cactus into submission!

While the dirty bandits busied themselves with their bickering, I set about stalking into the cave. I kept as low to the ground as I could manage, like I did while hunting on the Plains, and to my relief Ty followed suit just like I'd hoped.

The tunnel they'd stowed away in was the biggest offshoot I'd seen anywhere in this cave system thus far. Even the ceiling expanded a ways upward, giving plenty of upward space even on the edges of the domed room. In the back, opposite where we'd come in from, was a huge pile of boxes and barrels. That would be Purple's cargo!

Some of the tops were cracked - or, rather, bashed open. It was pretty apparent he lacked the proper tools to open them the right way. Among the pile of busted-up planks, there was all manner of mundane building materials like polished planks and fired clay bricks. One crate spilled a pile of juicy-looking berries onto the sandy floor. The sight of what that clumsy oaf had done to a whole load of perfectly good food set my blood boiling. He'd pay for that!

We were about halfway around the room now, in perfect position to strike. I motioned behind my back for Ty to follow my lead. To ready myself for a good pouncing, I took one final step forward and-!

…Kicked a small rock, with a great deal of force. The little stone sailed across the room before making a loud clatter against the opposite wall.

Whoops.

"Kyeh?!" Cacturne whipped around just in time to spot me frozen in place, blank-faced as if I were hoping he hadn't noticed me. No such luck, though - he may've been stupid, but he wasn't blind. "I knew it! I knew, I knew it! Bonnie, you… you… you sand-brained idiot!"

"B-boss, can't we worry about me later? W-we've got intruders!" The little Trapinch by his side seemed to have her priorities straighter than he did, not that that helped us at all.

"Right… right! Kyehah, haven't you two got some nerve, comin' straight t'the belly of the beast like this!" Cacturne returned his attention to us, snapping into a dangerous-sounding mood. Venom dripped from his voice, making the fur on the back of my neck stand on end. What an awesome feeling! Maybe he'd turn out to be a threat after all…!

"We're here to take back what you stole, Cacturne! By force, if at all possible!" I shot him a proud grin and puffed my chest out in defiance..

"By force…? Kyehahahah!" That shrill cackle was already getting on my nerves. It would be sweet to grind that ugly mug of his into the sand and shut him up. "Didn't yer Kecleon pal tell ya how our last encounter went?" He jabbed a spiny arm in my direction. "What makes y'think you of all Pokémon could stand a chance against me? Ain't no one can stand up to the mighty bandit Clyde!" He struck a ridiculous pose, I guess trying to emulate my own. It didn't quite suit him at all.

"Yeah, right! Purple may've been a softie, but we'll be different! We'll have no trouble wiping you out!" I shot him my most intimidating glare, determined to win this battle of willpower.

"Kyehah! Yer buddy there ain't lookin' too sure of himself!" He pointed to Ty behind me, whose legs looked like they were about to buckle out of fear.

"Ty, you coward! Remember what I told you before!" He wasn't helping my case if he was falling for Cacturne's bluff! With a stern growl, I turned back to the masked figure in front of me.

"Bah! It doesn't matter whether he's sure of himself. If I have to, I'll take you on without any help!" I turned back to Ty, giving him the full brunt of my angry glare. "You're getting off easy for now, Ty. Keep the little one busy while I deal with Lean, Green and Spiky over here."

I'd be sure to yell at him plenty later. After all this, he chooses now to choke? Inexcusable! Bah, but I could berate him later - I had bigger concerns for the time being.

"Kyeh… I ain't done talkin' myself up, girlie!" He crossed his arms and huffed. "Ya can't appreciate gettin' beaten to a pulp if ya don't know just how great the one doin' it is!"

"Gyah, shut up!" I shouted. "I already can't stand your voice! And you know what? Whether I've got Ty to back me up or not, you're gonna get pounded into the dust! Let's go!"

I couldn't give him the opportunity to respond. I lunged forward and kicked off the sandy floor, soaring a good distance off the ground right in the direction of his ugly, green face. The look of shock on his face was more valuable than any treasure he'd ever dug up, I can guarantee that. His arms may have been covered in thick spikes, but it didn't prevent me from smashing his smooth target of a head! I reared my head back en route, and brought it forward at just the right time…!

Wham!

"Gagh!" He staggered backward, holding his arms on top of the growing bump I left on his noggin. His head was softer than a Mareep's wool! I had expected to be butting against something harder at the very least!

With that blow, he'd been knocked off-balance. Now was my time to strike! I lowered my head this time, charging at him with my shoulder for a full-body tackle. My target was square on his chest - I could knock him flat on his back and be done with it just like that! Just like before, I pushed off the ground straight towards Cacturne.

"Kyaah!"

"Oof-!"

The feeling of weightlessness came to an abrupt end. In a flash, he'd gone from clutching his head in pain to launching an underhanded jab right into my stomach! How did he recover so soon after I'd hit him?! I sprawled onto the ground after a hard landing, having been unable to prepare myself for such a sneaky attack. He loomed over me and gave me that obnoxious cackle again.

"I told y'all not to underestimate me! Now yer gonna pay the price, girlie! Kyahahah!"

I rose to my feet, shaking off the blow. After all, it was more surprising than painful… Just caught me off guard is all. I leapt back a bit to create some distance between us, and now we were back to square one.

"Gyah!" A ball of flame whizzed by me, just inches away from blackening the pretty blue fur on my face. Cacturne and I both snapped our attention to the source: Ty, being chased around in circles by the little Trapinch as she gnashed her humongous teeth at him, snapping just short of his rear every time.

"Kyehahah! Get 'im, Bonnie!" Cacturne cheered on his partner as I heaved a frustrated sigh. Here I was thinking he'd at least be able to handle this… He had even gotten himself backed into the wall! How in the world did he manage that?!

"Erk…! S-Stay back!" He groped behind him and brought forth the first thing he felt: a long, sturdy plank, salvaged from one of the busted-up crates. He grinned and held it out, jabbing it at Trapinch over and over. She looked put off for a moment, backing away to figure out how to deal with it, but a solution came to her in no time. She jumped right back into the fray and opened her jaw wide as Ty swung the plank at her, and…

Crack!

"Y-Yikes!" Unbelievable! She crunched the sturdy-looking piece of wood right in half without breaking a sweat. Ty was… well, horrified. After a moment of stunned silence, he yelped and took off again. He bounded around her and put as much distance between them as he could. He got off easy, though - with her tiny bug-like legs, she wasn't quite able to keep up with him.

"Hey! Quit ignorin' me, girlie! I ain't through with ya yet!" Cacturne jabbed his arm at me again. Right, I'd forgotten about him in all the excitement.

I took my brief moment of downtime to strategize. That sneaky punch of his would get me for sure if I just threw myself at him again like I had before… but he didn't seem too speedy, himself. If I could run circles around him, maybe that'd throw him off enough? Worth a shot, at least!

I bounded towards him as fast as I could manage. Like I thought, he tried striking out just as he had before. I saw it coming this time, though, and jumped out of the way right on time. He stumbled forward from the weight of his whiffed punch, leaving himself wide open. Now was my chance!

I clenched my jaw tight and tensed my muscles, bringing a shower of sparks flying off the tips of my fur. Crackling with electricity, I charged forward and slammed into Cacturne's chest, sending the both of us tumbling to the ground. The sparks seemed to dissipate right off his waxy flesh, but I could see he still felt it at least a little - past the whole crashing into the ground part, he seemed to twitch as I jumped back to prepare for another attack.

I'd had it figured right all along - on top of being a predictable fool, he wasn't very quick at all. He was none too strong, either. It figures with how much he talked himself up that he wouldn't even live up to the hype. Although I'd hoped he'd put up more of a fight than that, I wasn't going to complain about an easy victory, either.

"Kyehhh! You pesky little…!" He staggered to his feet, giving off a sudden feeling of seething, frothy rage. "How dare you make such a… such a mockery of me! Of the great bandit Clyde! Y'all gonna pay for that, girlie!" In spite of how threatening he was trying to sound, his ragged breath and wounded stance betrayed his intentions. Just a couple hits and he was already about to collapse? Hah! No amount of rage-fueled adrenaline would help him now.

"It's a bit too late for that, don't you think?" I retorted. "It's a real shame, but you don't seem too fit to fight back anymore, you berry-wrecking fool…" When he caught sight of my proud, smug grin, he looked as if he wanted to snap me in two. As if he could get close!

"Kyeeeeh!"

That wouldn't stop him from trying, I guess. He seemed to have figured out his sneak attacks wouldn't work against me now, and resorted to a full-on bum rush. Even more careless than before! He reared his arm back as he ran towards me, preparing for a mighty-looking punch. If I timed this right, though, I could finish this right here and right now! I ran forward, ducking out of reach of his assault, and just before we crashed into each other I launched myself into the air one last time, my neck braced for impact.

"Hurk-!" He couldn't even screech in response like he'd done before. Taking a headbutt straight to the stomach when we were both moving so fast, he was too winded to make a single sound past that choked yelp. The force of the impact flipped him over my back, sending him flying behind me, while I landed just fine a small distance away. Grinning, I turned around to survey the damage.

Just like I thought, that one last hit knocked him out cold as far as I could tell. I trotted over to his unconscious form and planted myself down on his back, for good measure.

In a way, I mused, it was sort of disappointing that it was over so soon. The whole way here, I'd been hyping myself up for a big fight, a challenge! Someone to test my mettle against! That was what I looked forward to this whole time, and the expectation kept me going even when the conditions outside were so dreadfully painful. And yet, in the end, Cacturne hit me a whopping one time in total before I sent him to the dust, unconscious. Was that really fair!?

"Gyaaaagh!"

Ah, maybe it wasn't quite over yet after all! The pained sound of my partner's voice came echoing over to my side of the cavern, putting a harsh damper on my victorious mood. I rubbed my ear with my paw and turned my head, looking down at this spineless bandit's partner with a lazy eye.

"Oi, oi," I sighed a disappointed sigh and shook my head. "Ty, what's taking you so long? I thought we were here to beat up some crooks, not to play around with them. We oughta be through already!"

"I-I'm not playing, Sai!"

So he said, but I wasn't convinced. After all, that stupid Quilava was pacing around with tears streaming from his eyes, sporting a mighty grimace along with a Pokémon clamped on his Bluk Berry-blue butt. He was trying his hardest to shake the little thing off of him, but that Trapinch was being stubborn and hanging on no matter what he tried.

"Just knock her off already, Ty." I said, amused. "Or do you like having girls hanging off of your behind like that?

"N - no, I don't!" Ty stammered back. "She's just - ouch! - biting down - eeegh! - really hard! Gyaah!"

That Trapinch must've just taken a big chomp out of his butt, I figured. Ty sprung several feet into the air, screaming and wailing like a spooked Mareep. He carried that Trapinch with him too, making me think that he had somehow grown a lumpy orange tail.

"Hee…" I had to clamp my paws over my mouth at his antics. If I burst out laughing now, I'd never have heard the end of his crying and moaning when we got back to the Outpost.

That being said, I couldn't help but be a little impressed by his endurance. While he was bouncing around like an idiotic… idiot, it wasn't like that Trapinch was hurting him that much. From what I can see, her teeth weren't even digging past his fur, let alone into his skin. That thick coat of Bluk Berry blue on his back must be thicker than I thought.

Speaking of his fur, wasn't there something that comes out of his head and butt? Something, bright… something, hot? It baffled me that this goofball hadn't figured out how to get that bug off of him by now? He might be bright when it comes to boring stuff like books and rocks, but when it came to instinct and fighting, he's hopeless. I always wished I could get him tutored, find someone to help me toughen him up - as good a fighter as I am, I think it would be a bit much for me to handle him on my own.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

Ugh, I couldn't stand to watch this anymore. I held my paws around my mouth and shouted at him, "Ty, it's getting dark in here! Can you give me some light?"

"Light? This - gah! - really isn't the time - oof - for that, Sai!"

"Must I spell it out for you, Ty?" I grumbled, exasperated at him. Frowning, I shouted at him again, "Ty, you idiot! She's biting down right on your butt! Turn on those flames of yours already and torch that big-mouthed bug right off!"

"Torch…?" A confused look flitted across his face for a moment, showering me with a feeling of disbelief. But then, he seemed to realize what I meant. That look of concentration on his face from before returned, with him puffing out his cheeks and squeezing his eyes shut.

The smoldering red patches on his upper back began to smoke, and then in a flash a bright flame erupted from them. Along with those, the flames also spouted from his lower back, too - right where Trapinch had bitten down!

The sudden heat caused Trapinch to loosen her grip in shock, and the force of the fiery jets blasted her right off of Ty's rear. Her roly-poly form caused her to skip along the ground like a pebble across water before she came to an abrupt halt, courtesy of a sandstone wall. The little thing whimpered like a baby, muttering 'ow, ow, ow,' under her breath.

I hopped off my squishy green seat and approached the downed bug with a big, haughty grin on my face.

"Your big, spiky buddy can't help you now, Trapinch. What've you got t'say for yourself?" She quaked as I loomed over her, shrinking away from my glare.

"I-I… I surrender! I give, just… please, no more…!"

"You… give up?" I spat. "How pathetic! As if it's not bad enough to whimper and cry like that after taking a single hit, you give up right after! I can't even believe such a worthless plea!"

"R-really!" she whined. "I won't fight anymore, I'll go with you peacefully - I promise!" She bowed her massive head to the sand in a sad display of submission. Was she for real? How was I supposed to trust such a sudden surrender? I wasn't buying it for a second!

"Sai, I-I think we oughta go easy with her. She seems like she's hurt pretty bad…" My gaze snapped to him so fast he flinched.

"You can't go easy on bandits, Ty! Are you crazy?!" My rage was threatening to bubble over already. What a load of trouble he was! First it took all that work to get him in the fray in the first place, and now he's showing mercy to the very bandits we were tasked with taking out!

"Don't think for a second she's sincere, either! This is all just a trick - a sneaky, bandit trick! As soon as our backs are turned, she'll gonna hightail it outta here! How… how totally honorless!" The thought of it alone boiled me up inside! Couldn't this little bug at least commit to her banditry and finish what she started?!

"Sai…! I think you're being a bit too harsh here!" His frown deepened. "Isn't it enough that we beat them? She's surrendering, right? So… we can just put down the Beacon Orb and keep them down 'til help arrives, and then we can decide what to do with the both of them!"

"There's no 'too harsh' when you're dealing with dirty bandits, Ty!" I slammed my paw down, kicking up a bit of sand in the process. "Have you forgotten why we came down here already?!"

"No, Sai, I remember just fine!" he retorted. "We came here to fight the bandits and take back Strauss' cargo. Cacturne's down and out, Trapinch surrendered and their stolen loot is right there! We accomplished our mission!"

"'Surrendered,' right! And then once our guard's down, she'll turn right around and bite out a chunk of your behind again!" Was it so hard to just knock her out and be done with it? What was the need for all the drama?!

"Sai… You mentioned honor earlier, right? For not finishing the fight? But what about you?"

"Me? What's that supposed to mean?" I said, my face screwed up into a scowl.

"Then… well, where's the honor in beating on a helpless girl who's already surrendered to you, huh? That doesn't sound all that high and mighty to me! Get a hold of yourself, Sai!"

A moment of angry silence fell over us. If I weren't so cross with Ty, I might have been proud of his bold attitude. For now, though, I couldn't spare the good will.

"Get that Beacon whatever," I growled. "We're done here, anyway."

Although he held a harsh look of disdain on his face, he went fishing around in the pack by his side anyway. After a moment he produced the shiny blue orb that he'd shown me earlier in the day.

"…So. How'd Purple say this thing works, again?" I wasn't exactly paying very close attention during his very long, boring briefing earlier. It didn't help that I'd still been half-asleep at the time, too.

"Well… hum. Actually, I don't think he said." Ty was clueless, too, as usual. So how were we supposed to use this thing, then?

"Although… I mean, most Orbs are just used by holding them above your head, right? So…" Just as he'd said, he raised the ball high above him, both arms outstretched, and waited.

And waited. And… waited. But nothing happened, save for the long moment of awkward silence as we struggled to tear our expectant gazes from the little blue ball.

"Okay, that's not doing anything," I concluded. "Got any other ideas?"

"Err, not really," he admitted. He gave the ball a solid shake as if he was expecting something to come of it, but he got the same result (or lack thereof) as last time.

"Gimme that!" I motioned for Ty to hand me the Orb. Like everything else, I'd have to do this myself.

"What-? But Sai, you- you can't even hold this thing!"

"…Huh. So you're right." I hadn't thought of that. My cheeks flushed a pale red and I opted to drop that idea. But that still left us with no way to deploy the beacon…

Something about the Orb caught my eye. I squinted into the dull blue surface of it, and found that something was moving in the reflection… Huh? That was right behind me! I whirled around just in time to catch a last few grains of sand get shoved up from a small, bug-sized hole in the sandy floor. The little tunnel was just a little too small for me to fit through, and I doubted Ty would have much luck, either. I glanced around in a bout of paranoia, and sure enough, that blasted bug was nowhere to be seen.

"Ty, you idiot! What did I tell you? She just slipped right out from under our noses!" I knocked him aside in my haste to poke my head into the pit, causing the orb to fly out of his paws and crash onto the floor with a loud shattering noise. Now was no time to worry about that, though. I reached down into the little tunnel and groped around, trying to snag a bit of that brown-shelled bandit, but she was already too deep to reach.

"I-I'm sorry, guys…!" A distant, muffled call came back in response. Sorry?! Yeah, right! That's not the sort of banter a fleeing criminal lets out!

"…She got away." Ty's pointy ears drooped down and he made a sad face.

"If only someone had warned you that might happen, Ty!" It took a lot of willpower to keep from shouting outright. "Maybe, just maybe, we could have… oh, I don't know - knocked her out and kept her from escaping!"

"S-Sai, calm down!" he pleaded. "We won, right? It's a victory!"

"Hmph." I turned my back to him and took my seat on Cacturne's unconscious form again. "I guess you're right," I admitted. "It's not like fighting will help anything right now… We've got this one, at least."

"Yeah! And we, uh, figured out the Beacon Orb, too. So… now we just wait, I guess."

"Uh huh." I sat back and let my mind wander, curious how long it would take Brick and his lackeys to arrive.

* * *

><p>By the time the drunkard and his pals arrived, I was already close to nodding off. The smelly Geodude came through the tunnel with an assortment of Pokémon, most of which I recognized as the random busybodies who lived around the Outpost. There was Maractus who ran the motel that Ty and I stay in, the Haunter who's the pianist from Shuckle's Saloon, and…some short, muscular Pokémon, an unfamiliar face. Most of them busied themselves right away with moving the cargo up to the surface, with the exception of Maractus.<p>

"Oh, goodness me!" Maractus came rushing up to Ty and I with a worried look on her face. She had on her shoulder a long, hooked pole, with one bucket of water sloshing around on each end of it. When she reached where we were sitting, she laid down the pole and buckets and started fussing over the two of us.

"Are the two of you alright? No injuries or anything?"

"Of course not," I remarked, yawning into her face. I twitched my head and flicked my eyes toward the Cacturne beneath me. "This fool hardly put up more of a fight than a newborn Mareep. It wasn't much trouble at all."

"This… fool?" I watched as her eyes traveled down from my face, and landed square on the snoozing bandit. Her two spiny arms flew up to her mouth as she began to fret… again. "Oh, oh dear! Sai, hun, you shouldn't be sitting on him like that! Please, you've got to get off of his back!"

I raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "Eh? Why's that?" It irked me a bit that she was calling me by name - I hardly knew her, after all - but it seemed too unimportant to bring up at the moment.

"W-well, you're sitting on someone who's been injured! It's not good for him to be face down in the sand and grit like that, hun!"

"Pfft," I gave Maractus a smirk and a shrug. "like it matters. He's a bandit - and not even a really good one, at that. A gobful of sand is what he deserves."

"Sai!" Maractus puffed out her cheeks and pointed her arm at me. "That's no way to treat anybody, not even a bandit! He'll have plenty of time to serve later, but right now he still deserves to be treated, along with everyone else! Now please! Get off the poor Pokémon so I can take a gander at his injuries!"

"Erk…" I was taken aback by how forceful she was being. I was so used to the demure, quiet Maractus who greeted us back at the motel lobby, so this came as a bit of a shock to me; so much so that I found myself obeying her demands and trotting off the Cacturne's body. She was different out in the field, I guessed. Did she get out enough to merit that, though? It didn't matter now, at any rate.

Maractus smiled and nodded, "Good girl, Sai! Now let's see…"

"I've never seen Maractus this pushy before, Sai…"

I glanced at Ty and frowned, "Yeah, and for what? That worthless excuse for a bandit?." Sighing, I shook my head and took a sat on the sandy floor. "Oh well, whatever makes her happy, I guess."

I watched with mild curiosity as Maractus fussed about with that unconscious Cacturne's wounds. Bandaging this, slathering berry juice over that… What a waste, I thought. A waste of perfectly good bandages, berries and even my effort with beating him down. I just couldn't understand why she went through all that trouble.

"There, all done!" Maractus said as she wiped some sweat off her brow. I glanced down at her handiwork, and had to stifle a snicker. That Cacturne was swathed in white bandages! Even his one obvious injury, a huge dark bruise on his belly, was just covered up with a couple strips of bandage as if that would help anything. Even then, I'm pretty sure I only hurt his chest, so why were his legs and arms all bound up too?!

"I'm not too confident in my medical skills, to be honest," Maractus said, twiddling her arms. At least she admitted it. "But I do love helping whenever I can! No injured Pokémon will stay that way for long on my watch! Hm, hm!"

"That's great, Maractus!" Ty said, clapping his paws at her. "It makes me happy to hear that!" I had to stifle another snicker; even Ty noticed how far overboard she'd gone.

"Yeah, great," I muttered. "Now how about you check up on Ty's bitten butt instead of our opponent, Maractus?"

"S-Sai!" Ty blushed and glanced down his back. I waved my paw at him and smirked.

"Don't worry Ty. Your behind is a wonderful shade of red, nothing to be embarrassed about."

"T-that's totally something to be embarrassed about!" He stammered back. "It's supposed to be blue, you know that!"

"Bluk Berry blue," I agreed with a snicker.

"Ty, just let me take a look at it! What's the harm, right?" Ty hesitated, but relented after a moment. Maractus peered over at his rear and gasped when she saw how red it had gotten from his fight earlier. It was becoming harder and harder not to burst out laughing, first with Maractus' overzealous bandaging and now with all this focus on Ty's aching behind. Would he come out of this wrapped up like Cacturne, too?

"My, it's so red!" I wasn't sure whether she sounded more impressed or concerned. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and assumed the latter, anyway. "How did you take a hit in such a, hm, delicate area? I don't suppose Cacturne managed that?"

"N-no, ma'am, not at all," Ty stuttered. "Actually, uh, it was Cacturne's accomplice, Trapinch." Oh, that dope! I was hoping not to mention her at all…

"Oh, goodness!" Maractus exclaimed again. "From what I've heard, Trapinch bites are quite dangerous…!" Ty took one glance at the bandage-bound Cacturne and immediately got to avoiding Maractus' medicinal wrath.

"That's… I mean, i-it's fine, Maractus, really!" He gave a nervous chuckle and took a small step backwards. "It's nothing major at all. I'll be fine!" Really, now? I wasn't convinced, not from how he'd been whimpering earlier. I leaned behind him, reached out my paw… and gave him a firm smack on the rear.

Ty yelped and leapt into the air, clutching his behind. "S-Sai, that… really hurt…!"

"Right, and you're just fine, are you?" He didn't look too pleased with my smug grin, but I accomplished what I set out to do.

"Oh, Sai, don't tease him so!" Maractus scolded, stepping between us. "Are you alright, hun?"

"Y-yeah! Just fine, like I said earlier…" I couldn't help but snicker now. Ty gave me a dirty look, but I paid him no mind.

"Anyway," Maractus said, changing the topic for Ty's sake. "If that's a Trapinch bite, then… well, where's the Trapinch?"

My grin seemed to slip off my face. "She… got away," I grumbled, motioning to the tiny tunnel the little rat dug. "I'm not worried about it, though," I added, maybe just a little too soon, "she was hardly a threat anyway."

"Hardly a threat?!" Ty shook his head, picking up one half of the splintered plank he'd taken earlier. "Sai, she was way more dangerous than Cacturne…!"

"Details, details," I dismissed him with a wave of my paw.

"I do wonder, though," Ty piped up, "where can we keep this guy? I mean, I don't remember seeing a prison at the Outpost… and I don't think Officer Magnezone's reach extends all the way out there."

"That's true," said Maractus, giving a thoughtful hum as she rested her chin on one arm. "Magnezone only handles things down in Treasure Town… I guess we hadn't really thought that far!"

"Ah, I've got an idea!" Ty grinned as if he'd just come up with the perfect solution. I was drawing a blank, myself, so I was at least vaguely curious what he had in mind. "Maractus, have you got any vacancy at your motel?"

"Of course!" she said. "I've always got a room free, for anyone who needs it. But… why do you ask, hun? You and Sai have already got a room."

"Well, we could just keep Cacturne holed up in one of your rooms until we come up with a better plan. It's not perfect, but it's something, right?" What, that's it? 'Stick him in a room and come up with something better?' What kind of a plan was that?!

"I suppose that could do," she said. "We'd need someone to keep him in there, though… Oh, I bet Timburr would be up to it! I'll have to go an' ask him when they're done moving all that junk."

"He looks like he could handle the job pretty well," Ty remarked.

"Or, maybe you could stand guard for me, Ty!"

"H-huh? No way!" He shook his head again, the coward. I didn't see what the big deal was about it; it seemed like a pretty easy job to me considering how our fight had just gone.

She giggled and dismissed him with a wave of her arm. "I'm just fooling, hun. I wouldn't wanna start any more trouble between you three, anyway."

"Anyway, if you don't mind me asking, Maractus," I interjected, eager to get this stupid meeting over with and get home already. "What exactly brings you here, with the other movers? I mean, no offense, but you don't quite look well-suited for hauling all that junk." She looked like her flimsy green arms - pretty similar to Cacturne's, in fact, imagine that - could have given out just from the weight of her water buckets earlier. How could she manage carrying a big crate of lumber or food if water gave her so much trouble?

"Well, to tell you the truth… I'm really not!" When I saw the embarrassed look on her face, I almost felt bad for my blunt wording. She didn't seem too bothered by it, though; she just kept talking. "I'm just here to keep morale up, you know. And, well - I wanted to see how things turned out with you two, too!"

"Is that so? That's pretty nice of you, Maractus."

She bowed - on reflex, maybe, given how much time she spent behind her counter. "It's what I do, hun! I offer hospitality to whoever I can, wherever I go! I'm just glad everyone made it out alright. Speaking of… I bet you two are thirsty after a long battle like that down in this dusty old cave! Why don't ya help yourselves to some water?" She retrieved one of the water buckets she'd been carrying and set it before us. "Drink up, now! It's a long way back to the Outpost!" And with that, she gave another bow and left us to go back to the workers.

They'd already cleared out a surprising amount of the pile of loot for how long they'd been working. I guess that musclehead - did Maractus call him Timburr? - was about as strong as he looked, after all.

To tell the truth, they all looked to be pretty proficient - even Haunter, who seemed to make the cargo float on its own rather than picking it up herself. I have to admit, it was pretty impressive to watch. Well, better than nothing, at least - I was still prioritizing getting out of that dump over staying around to exchange pleasantries. I decided to sit back for just a moment later and watch them work while I had a drink. After that, I was all too ready to get out of this horrid sandpit now that our mission was done. At our next opportunity I would shake down Purple for a reward, and then we could get back to business as usual. Yeah, that sounded like a pretty good deal.

Timburr glanced to his side, as if he were checking to make sure no one was watching, before plucking a huge, juicy-looking Sitrus Berry out of one of the crates. It caught my eye right away, and it was making me jealous just seeing him about to take a big bite out of it. Before he had the chance, though, a glowing purple hand came out of thin air and slapped the berry back into its container.

"Gwuah?! O-oh, erk - Haunter!" It was pretty clear the poor buffoon was caught off-guard by his ghostly co-worker.

"I think," she said as she floated up to him, "that perhaps you should save snack-time for after we return."

"Well, I- I mean, of course! I was just…" He scratched at the back of his head, searching for an excuse. "You know, I was checking to make sure the berries were alright! Gwuhaha, yeah, that's it! See, these ones on the ground here, they're all bruised, and…"

Haunter's eyes narrowed. "Right, I'm sure," she said. "Anyway, how about you quit making excuses and pick up the slack, hmm?" She set another crate levitating and began to carry it out. "Such a burly type like you, being outworked by such a frail, wispy ghost as myself… hoho, what would Simisage think?"

After a moment Timburr began to lug another one after her, grumbling under his breath.

"What an interesting bunch of Pokémon," I lied. In reality, I wasn't at all interested in what they were up to. Now that I'd had a bit of refreshment, all I wanted to do was get the long walk back to the motel over with. I turned to Ty and smacked him on the side with my tail, "Ty. Let's get moving. We're done with what we came for, and I'm exhausted."

"Huh? Already?" Ty scratched his head and glanced around the cavern. "I kinda wanted to stay and help out a bit, though…"

"Well, too bad." I leaned my head over and bit down on his pudgy paw. I yanked him down onto all fours and began to tug him toward the exit of the cave for a moment before he got the idea and started to cooperate. "I'm sick of this horrible, dusty, sand-covered pit. We're getting out of here right now."

"B-but, Sai!" Ty spluttered as he lurched after me. "What about Cacturne?"

"What about Cacturne?" I retorted. "It's not our problem anymore. We came, we beat him, and we'll leave the rest to everyone else here! It's not our job to figure that stuff out!"

"I-I suppose they have it handled, but…"

I let out a low growl and glared at him, "But what, Ty? If you want to stay here so bad then I'll just have to bury you here and head home myself!"

"N-no! I'll go! I'll go with you! Just… give me a minute to say goodbye to everyone, okay? It'll only be a minute, and we'll leave as soon as I'm done!"

"Good." Snapping my expression to a pleasant smile, I let go of his paw and began to stroll toward the exit while he was licking his wounds.

It'd been a long, far too eventful day. I just couldn't wait to get home, get to bed, and sleep the night away. Walking across the desert, going through this blasted sandy cave and having to fight off a pair of no-hopers… how exhausting.

I glanced back at Ty. My Quilava partner was waving at everyone around, and had that same stupid smile plastered on his face again… Well, at least it was a better look for him than the pouty one, I suppose. As much of a pain as it was, I shouldn't complain too much if this little adventure made him so happy.

While he was still distracted by all the other Pokémon, I reached for the bag around my neck and opened the flap. I snuck one more glance at Ty, and then peeked inside my bag. There, lying at the bottom of the otherwise-empty bag, was that pretty white rock he'd found lying around earlier. Making sure that Ty wouldn't see me, I took it out and gave it a faint smile.

"You know something, I suppose it was a pretty fun adventure after all…"

"Did you say something, Sai?"

"Gah!" I spun around and saw Ty staring right at me, his head tilted and his eyes curious. I shoved the quartz back inside my pack and set my smile into scowl. "It's nothing, don't worry about it! Er- anyway, are you done with your goodbyes?"

"Yeah! Oh, and I bet you'll like this!" Thankfully oblivious to my stumbling speech, Ty pulled his bag off his neck and opened the flap for me to see. My eyes widened when I saw how the little pack overflowed with a rainbow of big, juicy-looking berries. "I asked them if we could take some of the berries they recovered, and they gave me a whole bunch for us to share! When we get home, we can eat them together, Sai!"

"T-that's great, Ty…!" I was mesmerized by all the food he had stored in the pack. Gaah… I could feel my mouth watering just looking at that feast! Grinning, I helped myself to a Pecha Berry from his bag and bit down on it. What a delicious, sweet flavor…! "Heh… this is wonderful! Come on, Ty! Having to wait to get at these berries is all the more reason to head back to the motel as soon as we can!"

Swallowing the rest of the berry, I wiped the juice off my chops and turned around. Then, without even waiting for my partner, I took off into the caverns like a lightning bolt. Ah, I can't wait to get home!

"S-Sai! Wait for me! I can't run as fast as you! Sai-!"


End file.
